The Motorcycle Girl
by sixxon
Summary: Karkat visits the local cafe everyday, today karkat learns more about the bubbly and slightly annoying girl who takes his order almost everyday, things he didn't expect. humanstuck AU albino!karkat rated M for future-katnep fanfic
1. Chapter 1

=== **Be the albino**

You are the albino, but your name is actually Karkat Vantas and you are currently in line at the Leijon Café. You come here every day to get your usual black coffee and plain buttered bagel for breakfast. Like always the bubbly and energetic cashier you find annoyingly endearing is taking orders for the line next to yours. She was cute if you had to say so yourself but still childish; the thought makes you scowl like usual. You didn't actually know her name but you figured she was pretty fragile considering she had many bruises, some old some new, but you just brush it off. You recall a time she was the waitress, she was moved to the register for constantly tripping over peoples feet so you figure she's just clumsy.

You hear a voice calling to you saying they can take you in their line; it was the energetic girl.

"The usual I purrsume?" You learn she rolls her 'r's, you find her slightly more unpleasant upon this knowledge. You shove some white hair from your face, ignoring the itchy sensation from your new contacts.

"Yeah thanks uhh..?" You stop, you don't know the girls name. "Oh," she holds out her hand to shake yours, "Nepeta, Nepeta Leijon. And you're welcome…?" She waits for you to give your name but your jaw just goes slack.

Leijon, her parents must own the shop. You clear you throat and let go of her hand. "Karkat Vantas." You say in a grumpy manner, per the norm. She just nods.

"Okay, Karkat, well your coffee and bagel will be over there and I really like your hair, do you bleach it?"

This compliment catches you off guard, people thought you hair was weird, hell you thought it was weird and you hated it… being different that is. It takes you a moment to collect your thoughts and you shake your head slightly before speaking.

"It's natural… and thanks, Nep." You hear her giggle before giving you back your change. You walk back over to where your food would be. You are about to head out the door with your things when you see someone pull Nepeta in the back, you decide, against better judgement, to stay and see what happens; out of curiosity of course.

A few minutes later a girl with Nepetas stature comes out in a skin tight black and olive green motorcycle suit and helmet, and damn she was hot. The girl turned she was hugging and saying goodbye to the other cashier. You figure Nepeta was probably talking to her boss so you leave and head to your car.

There in the parking lot is the incredibly hot bodied girl with the motorcycle gear, walking over to a black and green Harley that matched her attire; the Harley you parked next to this morning. You began to walk over to your car watching her remove her helmet; she had short milk chocolate brown hair that looked as soft as feathers, probably softer. You watch her turn and see big bright olive colored eyes, Nepetas olive coloured eyes. Nepeta was the motorcycle girl.

You attempt to make it seem like you weren't looking but she sees you and calls you over.

"Hey Karkat!" She beams.

You nod and wave walking up to her bike. She picks up a red helmet and holds it up for you. "Wanna ride?" She giggles out. You would love a ride.

"I would but my fucking cars here, I didn't really walk like normal." That wasn't a lie, you do normally walk. Why didn't you say yes? You mental kick yourself for not saying yes. Nepeta purses her lips then smiles. "How about once around the block, then I'll bring you back and give your order for free tomorrow?" She bribes, wiggling the candy-red helmet once more.

"Fine." You grumble. What, it was free food, not like you're gonna pass that up. Nepeta perks up and squeals before shoving the helmet towards you and putting her own on before helping you with yours. She gracefully swung herself over the bike, much more gracefully than you had done getting on after her.

"You may want to hold on to something, I don't use the busy roads." You sense her playful tone, this worries you and you grab tightly onto the seat in front of you. She pulls out of the parking space and stops at the back exit.

"I have to stop somewhere quickly is that okay, it'll take ten minutes at most I purromise." She says nervously, you just nod your consent and she turns back to face the road. You feel the bike beneath you jerk forward into motion. Nepeta lets out an excited yell as you try to bite your tongue to stop yourself from screaming in fear. You immediately let go of the seat and grip Nepeta like she's your new lifeline.

She went fast; you now understand why she doesn't use busy roads. She was a really good driver, but you kept your eyes closed until you heard Nep kill the engine.

"Karkat we're here and this will take a lot longer if you insist on clinging to me." You notice your face is currently pressed to her lower back, your arms still wrapped so tightly around her you're surprised she hadn't passed out. You swiftly let go and hop off the bike after her. You see you are at the 'Alternia Hunting Woods' this deeply worries and intrigues you.

"Nep what are you doing here, these guys are going to laugh at you." You gesture to some red necks with large rifles in the distance. She just laughs at you and proceeds. As you and her approach said red necks some would high five her and talk to her, others would cower in fear. This is all very confusing as all you see Nepeta as is an innocent four foot high Barbie boll, it feels wrong. She ignores her other peers and proceeds to the counter.

"Hey Equius! How's the archery training going?" she beams at the highly muscular and sweaty man behind the counter. "It has been going well Nepeta, aside from the broken bows; I assume you would like your hunting documents?" Your jaw drops to the floor. For one, this guy was probably the most formal person you had ever met, despite your initial judgement that he would be a jackass. Secondly, Nepeta hunted, she did not ever seem the person to hunt, nor did she seem the type to ride a motorcycle either. Today was just full of surprises, great.

Nepeta nods and Equius says her license and documents should be ready in ten minutes. The door jingles to accept someone new into the building. He was large and looked angry his face was red like his beard and what little excuse he had for as hair and seemed to have a permanent scowl. "He must be new; I've never seen him here before." Nepeta declares, beginning to walk over to the large man who was most likely four times her size.

You sit back and observe much like the other patrons do. You watch as she holds her hand out for him, he just frowns harder at this. "Hello, you must be new, I'm Nepeta and-" before she could finish he swatted her hand away.

"Do I look like I give a damn little miss? Why don't you just leave before you get hurt?" You began to get up and defend her but some of the men stopped you and shook their head, signaling not to intervene. Nepeta smirked at the man.

"I suggest you adjust your domineer before I need to teach you some respect for women, sir." The man scoffs

"What's it to you what I do bitch?"

"The fact that Equius, the fine man behind the counter is my cousin, this is his establishment and I'm sure he doesn't want to put up with an attitude like that." Nepeta retorted in a calm manner before speaking again. "Tell you what, beat me in a fight and you don't have to be polite, and if I win, you apologize to me for calling me a bitch, and you will treat the people here with respect or you will leave."

"You're on bitch; I hope you have fun in the hospital." Nepeta shrugged at his remark and walked over to you, handing you her helmet and earrings. You would be lying if you weren't completely freaking out about Nepeta getting injured because of this ass hole. You don't quite like the idea of her face being rearranged, considering you think her face is pretty and you like it. She tells everyone that if they want to watch that they can come to the training room and sit on the benches before she grabs you and pulls you towards the building herself.

You sit between the men who stopped you before and overhear others placing bets on Nepeta, or rather 'the Huntress' as they referred to her.

Nepeta skipped over to the man and smiled brightly at him. "Would you like to play fists or knives honey?" She giggles out; the man just states he would feel bad stabbing a little girl, even though she was a bitch. He chooses fists, you look at Nepeta and she looks slightly dejected, like she wanted him to choose knives, this makes you feel even more worried for her. you get up and sat next to Equius and asked him why she would even ask to use knives.

"Nepeta enjoys the new claws I made her two weeks ago, she doesn't exactly hunt like the rest of us, all the men use rifles and shot guns. Nepeta doesn't, not because she can't though." He smirks at you, now you're even more confused than when the other men were afraid of her.

Suddenly the large man swung for Nepeta, but instead of hitting her gut he missed completely. She had dodged his advance and flipped over his shoulders and onto his back with all the grace and precision of a cat. The man was stunned. "Come on, is that the best you have?" Nepeta teased with a mock pout on her face.

The man growled, grabbed her hands and flipped her off his back, but all that did was set her back in front of him instead of laying on the ground like he planned. The man bent down to swipe her legs but she wrapped them around his neck and flipped him around and onto the ground before swiftly heel dropping him in the gut. "Had enough yet love?" She teased.

You watch as the man picks himself up off the floor and chuckles before pulling out a switch blade. "You better be feeling pretty sorry you can't fit a knife in that little suit of yours pussy cat." Suddenly all the men watching laugh as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world. Nepeta smiled.

"Knives, no," a faint click and the unsheathing of metal was heard, "claws, yes." The man stood terrified at the little girl before him. You are just as freaked out when you turn to Equius for an explanation and he just smiles at you. Three metal claws protruded from each of Nepetas hands, giving her a wolverine type look. The man pushed his knife towards her, only to have his arm twisted and face scratched by Nepeta; she had broken his wrist, not to mention his face which looked like it would need at least thirty stitches to fix the three new and bloody marks across his face.

"Done yet?" Nepeta said, picking at her nails in boredom, could this really bore her? To you it looked like something out of a movie. The man weakly nods before Nepeta smirked and roundhouse kicked his side, effectively winding him and knocking him to the floor. She crouched down to his level and smiled brightly at him.

"Please, treat the patrons and staff of my cousins' establishment with respect unless you want me to teach you it again." And with another click her claws were gone. You now understood why some of the men were afraid of her. The men who won their bets cheered for Nepeta as she walked over to you and Equius. "I assume the licence should be done, come on Karkitty let go get it and then I can get you back to your car."

You and Equius trail behind Nepeta as she happily walks back to the main building. The walk is silent and slow until Equius speaks. "Don't worry, she won't do something like that to you; she doesn't hurt people she likes. Even her boyfriend was afraid at first."

Boyfriend. This makes your heart sink, though you're not sure why; you really only learned Nepetas name today. You still can't help feeling a little jealous. Nepeta gathers her documents and license and drives you back to the café, pulling into the same parking spot you left from. Luckily when you get in your car the coffee and bagel you got aren't cold. Nepeta knocks three times on your window, holding some paper in her other hand.

"This is my cell and that's my pesterchum handle, if you have trollium it's the same handle; don't be afraid to talk to me. I think you'd be a great friend and well… I always scare people off." She smiles weakly and you promise to talk to her later before you both drive off in different directions.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Trigger warning for violence and abuse**_

=== **Be the motorcycle girl**

You are now Nepeta, and you really hope your new friend Karkitty texts you, maybe it will distract you today. You park your bike in your garage and sigh before shakily unlocking your door and going inside. You stay quiet and shut the door softly so that Eridan, your boyfriend, doesn't hear you come in. He wouldn't like you coming home so early even though your sister, and boss, insisted. You sniffed the air, it smelt like tobacco and alcohol like always. You silently hope that Eridan isn't home today, or is asleep. Sadly this is not the case when you hear him holler at you from the bedroom.

"NEP IF THAT'S FUCKIN' YOU GET YOUR ASS IN HERE."

You sigh, knowing that if you didn't listen the punishment would be worse than if you did. You walk in to see Eridan unclothed with only his lower region covered by the sheets on the bed, you pray he's wearing boxers, but you know better.

"Yes, sir?" you squeak out.

"You know I don't fuckin' like you comin' home so early, come here next to me." He pats the area on the bed next to him and you begin to advance towards him.

"Clothes first, you know the rules." He says strictly

You comply and remove your suit leaving you in a thong and a bra as you make your way over to sit next to Eridan. He grips you by the neck and slams you back against the bed, which in all reality is about as soft as a rock. He keeps his hand below your neck, keeping you pressed on the bed the other hand busying itself by removing your underwear. You attempt to move the hand that's located by your throat and Eridan responds by swiftly back handing you and yelling profanities as you whimper, that one would leave a bruise for sure. Eridan shoves himself inside you, sending sharp pain through your spine, causing you to yell out.

You know you could beat him in a fight, but you wouldn't dare hit him back. Before he started drinking he was really the best, sure he may have been an ass sometimes but he always apologized to you. You loved him, you just knew it. You knew it he still loved you even after he cheated on you with one of your friends, Vriska, before Vriska even knew you and Eridan were together; you forgave him.

Your thoughts are interrupted as you feel Eridans grip on your arms release and a swift smack to your face is obtained he shouts at you to get dressed and out of his sight before calling you a slut for the third time since you arrived home. You put a t-shirt and jeans on and then you put your suit back on, you grab some clothes and get them into the first bag you see. You pick up your keys, cell phone and laptop and pocket them as well before leaving. Maybe Equius would let you stay with him for the time being.

You pull out your phone and press the 3 on your speed dial and call Equius.

"Hello Nepeta, what is it you require?"

"Hey Equius, Eridan has some old buddies staying over for a few days so can I bunk with you?" You attempt to sound cheery, you hope he doesn't see through it, and luckily he doesn't.

"I will wait for you out side." And then he hung up. You put your helmet on before hopping onto your bike and driving off to the safety that is Equius Zahhak.

You pull into Equius' drive way and sure enough there he is, outside on his front porch. You wave politely and hop off your bike. Equius takes your backpack from you and brings you inside; everything is calm until he sees the new bruise adorning your face.

"Nepeta, what is that?" He says sternly and you just shrug and say you walked into a wall because it was dark inside your house; Equius knows you like the dark so he doesn't question why you didn't turn on the light. He does however say that he would be keeping a close eye on you before getting you an ice pack. You hear a ring from you bag signaling you received a new text message, you see it's from Karkat and are glad that he wasn't scared of you.

CG: HEY NEP, ITS KARKAT, THE GRUMPY ASSHOLE YOU TOOK OUT ON YOUR BIKE.

AC: Hey Karkitty! How are mew doing?

CG: GOOD, ARE YOU BUSY? YOU OWE ME A COFFEE AND BAGEL.

AC: Yes I'm free if Equius is cool with me going; I'm staying with him fur a few days.

CG: WHAT WHY? I THOUGHT YOU HAD A FUCKING BOYFRIEND WHAT ABOUT HIM?

AC: Eridan has a few friends ofur so he kicked me out until his buddies are gone! :33

CG: OH. WHAT A DICK. BY KICKING YOU OUT I MEAN, IM NOT SAYING HES A BAD GUY… OH WHAT FUCKING EVER JUST MEET ME AT THE CAFÉ IN 20 OR SOMETHING.

AC: Yes sir! :33

"Hey Equius, I'm going to the café for a while to meet Karkat, I purromised him food."

"Be back soon Nepeta."

And with that you were out the door and on your way to the café.

=== **Be the boy at the café**

You are now Karkat and are currently waiting for Nepeta at the Leijon Café. Though you aren't waiting long since you see Nepeta walk in wearing her helmet, she looks around for a minute before waving and sitting down with you. She takes off her helmet shakes out her beautiful- it's not beautiful, she has a boyfriend you fuck ass. She shakes out her hair and the first thing you notice is a large purple bruise adorning the right side of her face.

"Nep, what the fuck is that?" You nearly shout as you lean over to examine the bruise.

"Oh, I walked into a wall, didn't turn on the lights." She states apathetically. You shake your head, walls don't have hands that smack you and leave a mark that's oddly hand-shaped afterwards.

"Nep, walls don't have hands."

She sighs and looks down at her lap. "So I got slapped what the big deal? It was just once." She huffs, crossing her arms and pouting in a rather cute manner for someone with a large bruise on their face. You didn't think that, with how she beat the ever loving shit out of that guy earlier, she took that shit from anybody. You just had to wonder who had either the fucking balls or the fucking idiocy to hit Nep. This utterly baffled you.

"Did you at least fucking get them back?" You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose, with this you realised you hadn't put your contacts in. Fucking great, now she's going to think you worship Satan or some shit. She looks you dead in the eye as takes in a sharp breath before gripping your head in her hands.

"No, no but Karkitty oh my god your eyes they're…"

"Fucking weird I know." She giggles a little and lets go of your face and shakes her head.

"Not weird, I was going to say beautiful actually."

This catches you off guard as the second compliment on something you hate about yourself that she's given you. You're beginning to like this girl more than you should, but you don't really know it yet. You manage to mutter out a thank you and then it's quiet for a few minutes, you only notice because suddenly Nepeta is standing beside you holding your usual order.

"Here, I did purromise after all!" She smiles and places your food down in front of you.

"Aren't you gonna eat Nep?" She shakes her head and says she already did. By this point the itch to know who hit her is more like the need for oxygen and you don't quite know why you care so much.

"Okay Nep, who fucking hit you, was it Equius? Your mom, dad, family member?" You demand.

"No, none of my family would do that, not that my parents could anyway, they died when I was two and my sister, Meulin, raised me. She owns the café. Don't apologize either, I don't even remember them but Meu said they weren't nice people anyway."

You nod and apologize for being an ass anyway, geez you felt bad about that.

"Well, then who hit you? Was it your boyfriend… what's his face, uhm, Eridan?"

Nepeta nods. "Yes his name is Eridan."

You're glad you got his name right, that would have been fucking awkward if you had said Equius by mistake, considering they're cousins.

"Well, was it him?" you press on. She pauses in thought for a moment and sighs before speaking, the whole time she doesn't even look at you.

"That's uhm, not really important, but…" She pauses and you swear you see her eyes start to water.

"No, he didn't." She sniffles. "If you'll excuse me I just have to go to the bathroom." You nod and let her go, anger ever present on your face, more than usual at least.

What an ass, why fucking hits a woman, a woman as amazing as Nepeta no less, you are seething. You just want to go over and punch that fucking cock muncher right it the fucking face; you think someone should really saw that dude in half. You dare to even think that that's where the bruises on her arms come from and not from hunting or anything else. You want to know why she doesn't just fucking hit him back. What if he had done more than just hit her? Did he ever cut her? You shudder and shake your head as you see Nepeta approaching.

You quickly get up and pull her into a hug, which she returns after a few moments and begins silently sobbing. You stand in this embrace for a while before you feel Nepeta release you and watch her as she sits back down at the table, you follow suit.

"Nepeta, why don't you just hit him back?"

"I would never. I love him."

This catches you off guard. Damn this girl was just full of surprises today. How could she love someone who beat her?

"Why the fuck would you love someone who treats you like this?!" you gesture to her face.

"He loves me too. He just gets drunk and smokes a lot then forgets."

This is the most bullshit you've ever seen. You don't want her anywhere near that douche, you don't care what she says about it. he doesn't deserve someone like Nepeta, and Nepeta deserves better-much better- than him.

"Nep, stay with Equius. Hell, stay with me if he kicks you out. I don't like the idea of that raving douche hitting you again and I'm sure your cousin would fucking agree with me on that."

She doesn't say anything but nods her agreement.

"Do you need a ride home Karkitty?" she asks politely

You like that name, Karkitty, though you would never say that out loud. You in fact, do need a ride home since you walked here. That took you fifteen minutes just to get here from your apartment complex; a ride would be nice.

"Yeah thanks, I live in the apartment complex by the roller rink, if it's not too much trouble."

She shakes her head and says she would drive you to the next town over in you needed it, she even offers for you to stay with Equius and her for the night. You decline her request and tell her you have to feed your cat before he gets crabby. At the mention of the cat she squeals in delight; you guess she really likes cats.

The drive to your place is short and slower than before. Nepeta went slow because she said her back hurt and you holding on so tight wouldn't be good for it. You hope her back pain wasn't also Eridans fault, but you know better.

When you arrive Nepeta walks you to the door, she probably wants to see your cat, Luka. You invite her inside and the both of you take off your shoes and you take off your coat, hanging it in the closet by the door.

Your apartment wasn't much to look at, a sofa and recliner sat in the front living room adjacent to a modest TV that was next to a small white cat bed and some food dishes. The walls were a beige colour of sorts and the floor was just dark hardwood with a white carpet underneath a simple coffee table that matched the flooring. The kitchen was simple, a grey tiled floor, white walls that matched the white stove, dish washer, microwave and oven. The cabinets were chocolate brown and the countertops were grey like the floor. Overall your house didn't say much about your character.

Nepeta takes a seat on the couch as you fill Lukas food dish and call him out from where ever he had been hiding. Moments later a snow white cat comes bounding over to its food dish as Nepeta comments on how cute Luka is.

You start to wonder in Eridan did more than just hit her. You wonder if he raped her, you hope not. Nepeta always seemed so happy when you came in to the café. She was always smiling and laughing with customers, being nice to even the grumpiest of patrons to the little coffee shop. You don't understand how someone could do such horrible things to someone like Nep, drunk or otherwise. She hardly ever swore and was polite to everyone, even you though you didn't think you deserved it.

Luka finished his meal and sauntered over to you and hopped up on your lap, Nepeta immediately started petting him and eventually he moved to sit on her lap instead.

"I love cats. I have fish at home though, lots of them. Eridan likes fish and he really hates cats, he hates when I use cat puns too… he hates that a lot."

"Nep, how often does he hit you?"

"When he's drunk."

"Well how often is that?"

"Often enough."

You know what she means, just by the desperate look in her eyes. Eridan gets drunk a lot. You watch Nepeta as she shifts and puts Luka on the ground.

"I want to show you something." She says quietly as she begins to take off her motorcycle suit. She's in a plain white V-neck t-shirt and grey skinny jeans, massive purple welts shaped like fingers adorn her thin arms. You look to her face and see that the collar of her suit was hiding yet another large hand shaped bruise wrapped around her neck. She sighs and turns around to show you her back which is almost completely bruised along her spine. You see there are some healing cuts on her stomach and some long scars that went as far as the centre of her back to the middle of her stomach. The sight sickens you to think someone would do this to anyone. You don't even want to know what condition her legs are in.

She turns back to face you before speaking, "I know I'm ugly." You think she's anything but ugly.

"No you aren't Nep. You're probably the bravest person I've ever met. You HAVE to leave this fucking douche of a boyfriend, kick him out of your fucking house! He doesn't fucking deserve someone as nice as you Nep. He's a fucking tool."

Nepeta just give you a dejected look before sighing and nodding. She puts back on her suit and says she should get going because she promised Equius she wouldn't be too long. She hugs you goodbye and pats Luka on the head before wiping her silent tears and heading out the door. For the first time in your life, you feel like you could get used to having someone else other than Luka around.


	3. Chapter 3

=== Be the bruised lady

You are now Nepeta and your bruises are slightly going away. You have been at Equius' house for only two nights so far, he is a great host and cousin but you know that you have to go home to Eridan eventually. The thought of facing Eridan again makes you sick to your stomach, and not just because you think Equius didn't cook last nights pork correctly. You were glad Equius didn't know about what Eridan had done and also happy that someone else finally knew. You felt slightly safer thinking about how much Karkat cared about you.

You woke up around four in the morning today because you had to work at the café. Luckily your work clothes stayed at the restaurant. You quickly slip on your biker gear over your underwear so you don't have extra clothes when you get changed at work. You brush your teeth and hair before leaving and when you are done you head out the door, leaving Equius a note. You could eat at the café anyway so there was no need to make breakfast.

You get dressed when you arrive and get straight to work after making a simple bagel for yourself. The day dragged on with little to no customers coming in so early in the morning. Around seven Karkat came in just like he does every day. Today he wasn't wearing contacts as you could see his amazingly ruby red eyes twinkle. You sighed, you never understood how people could find his appearance weird when you liked it so much. His hair is a white-blonde colour and looks incredibly soft, his skin resembled the characteristics of milk that looked like someone dunked a cookie in it because of his slightly darker and scarce freckles that adorned his face. He was short, like you, but he may have had an inch or two on you. Today he was wearing a black turtleneck with a grey cancer sign on it, grey jeans, and candy-red high tops.

Karkat spots you and waves, you feel a slight blush as you wave back sheepishly. You call over to him saying not to worry about getting in line because you'll punch in his order and bring it to him. He nods and takes the seat closest to him, so you were still in his line of sight.

Your smile drops when a new customer comes in the café. Except he's not new, he's your boyfriend. Your heart stops and you gesture nonchalantly to Karkat, signaling to go around back. You drop behind the counter before Eridan has the chance to spot you. You quickly crawl on your hands and knees into the back room, opening the back door when you hear a knock, Karkat stood in the doorframe. You let him in and close the back door quickly.

"What's up Nep?" He asks, slightly concerned by your actions just moments ago.

"The guy who walked in just now was Eridan." You frown before continuing. "He never comes to the café. This is the first time he's actually come into the building."

Karkat mouths an O before telling you he would wait here or stay with you if you wanted. You can hear Eridan in the main room demanding to see you.

"YO ARADIA," he's yelling at your co-worker, "WHERE THE FUCK IS NEP. I WOKE UP THIS MORNIN' AND SHE WASN'T FUCKIN' THERE. I SWEAR TO GOD IF THE BITCH WAS OUT CHEATIN' ON ME… WHATEVER, JUST GO GET HER MEGIDO."

Soon, Aradia comes around the corner and into the back room. You always liked Aradia, she had long caramel coloured hair that was curly and fluffy. Her skin was the colour of graham-crackers, she had long black lashes that framed her doe-like brown eyes, and full lips that were always stained red. You knew her well considering her and Equius have been dating for years now.

"Nepeta, Eridans here and looking for you. I really don't know how you managed to stay with that guy for four years, he's such an ass sometimes." She sighs and crosses her arms, telling you to hurry up before disappearing into the other room once more.

You tell Karkat to wait in the back while you go talk to Eridan.

=== Be the boy in the back room

You are currently witnessing Nepeta take that walk of shame to the front room. You know she told you to wait here but you decide to get closer to see what's going on. You see Nepeta talking to some guy who you assume is the infamous Eridan, and man do you think he looks like a fucking tool.

He has blonde hair with a single violet streak through it that he seems to have slicked back, his fingers were covered in rings and he wore a blue on blue striped scarf around his neck. His face was slender with bold cheek bones that held up his hipster-esque glasses which framed eyes that were such a dark blue one could easily call them black. He wore dress shoes with purple and black striped pants along with a grey long sleeve shirt, all in all, he looked like a straight up douche.

You watch him and Nep exchange a few words before he hauls her outside. You begin to panic, and you're sure Nepetas panicking as well. You bolt from your spot behind the counter and out the back door to witness Eridan gabbing Nepeta by the neck and giving a swift left hook right to her eye before dropping her onto the ground. You boil over with rage.

You run and tackle Eridan to the ground, landing on top of him and pinning his arms down. He tries to distract you by spitting in your face but fails and only manages to spit up on himself. This action only lets you to punch him square in the face, just as god intended. Luckily this stuns him long enough that you can check on Nepeta, who is groggy from the impact of Eridans fist. You help her stand but are knocked off your feet by Eridan kicking your legs out from under you. After you get up Eridan quickly punches you in the gut then the jaw, finally pushing you aside to face Nepeta.

"YOU BEEN SLEEPIN' WITH THIS FUCKIN' FREAK NEP? YOU KNOW THE FUCKIN' RULES."

"No Eridan please, he's just a friend I only learned his name yesterday!" she pleads to him.

"WELL LOOKS LIKE IM GONNA HAVE TO FUCKIN' TEACH HIM A LESSON ABOUT MESSIN' WITH MY STUFF." You watch Eridan begin to stagger towards you, you know he's going to beat your ass; the hit to the gut really took the wind out of you. But he stops, you notice Nepeta has her hand on his shoulder; the look in her eyes tells you she's on the brink of tears.

"Eridan, if you love me, you won't do this. You do love me right?" No, you think, no he fucking doesn't.

"Well who wouldn't love a fuckin' bitch you could tap any time you wanted."

That's when you knew he didn't just hit her. You knew he raped her too. You watch as he shoves her hand roughly from his shoulder and continues his advance; only until Nepeta speaks up that is.

"Is that all I am to you? Some sex toy you can use then throw aside until you need to be satisfied again?" Her voice was shaking, both in fear and rage. Eridan however, just stood there silently looking at her. This was clearly not the response she was looking for as she sprung straight into his gut, knocking them both to the floor with Nepeta on top of him. She begins to yell at him while she keeps him pinned, occasionally hitting him every now and then to emphasize her words.

"I LOVED YOU! AND ALL YOU DID WAS USE ME FOR YOUR OWN PERSONAL GAIN! YOU NEVER LOVED ME ERIDAN. You never loved me and I let you abuse me because I thought I knew you still did. I never wanted to hurt you! Four years of you beating and raping me and I thought you loved me." She spat.

"Go home. I'm going to get some things later and stay with Equius. I don't ever want to see you again!"

Nepeta was shouting now, shouting louder than you thought her little voice was capable of. You want to cry after witnessing everything you just did. She had been abused by him for four years and you feel ashamed to think that for all of them you just walked into the coffee shop every day, ordering your usual. For four years you thought the bruises on her were because she was clumsy. You thought that just because she was smiley and happy that those bruises meant nothing; they were some ones tragedy and you brushed it off like it was nothing. You feel like the biggest tool in the world right now.

You watch as Nepeta drags her nails across Eridans cheek, leaving four bloody scratches in their place before she climbs off him and gives him a quick heel drop to the stomach. After a few moments of groaning, Eridan gets up and limps off to whatever hell hole he's spawned from and you walk over to Nepeta, putting a comforting arm around the now sobbing girl.

You walk Nepeta over to your car and tell her that she can sit in here while you go tell someone she won't be working for the rest of the day. At first she protests but you convince her otherwise. When you get back to the car you see Nepeta is still silently sobbing so you get in and pull her into a hug. Girls like hugs right? Damnit you should really get better at the whole comforting people thing.

After a while Nepeta says she should get back to Equius and you offer to help her get her things from her old house since she only has a motorcycle, she kindly accepts and you both go your separate ways.

-two hour time skip-

AC: Hey Karkitty, Equius says mew can come pick me up meow! :33

CG: NEP I STILL DON'T FUCKING KNOW WHERE EQUIUS LIVES, YOU ONLY GAVE ME YOUR OLD ADRESS.

AC: OH! Sorry, he's the last house on the left at Skaia rd. number 1001!

CG: THANKS NEP I'LL BE THERE IN TEN.

AC: Alright s33 mew then Karkitty! :33

You finish texting Nepeta and are now on your way to Equius' house. You know eventually she will have to leave Equius and that worries you. You know she can take care of herself but you still don't want her on her own or flopping between different friends couches. That's why you want to ask her to live with you. You need help to pay rent and were looking for a roommate anyways, besides you have that guest room that only ever gets used when Gamzee or Sollux are too drunk to walk or drive anywhere. You figure having her as a roommate wouldn't be so bad, right?


	4. Chapter 4

=== **Be the boy driving**

You eventually find Equius' house, it nothing special, the brick was monotones of grey and he had a bright royal blue front door. The only things that tipped you off were the house number and Nepetas motorcycle. You quickly text Nepeta that you're there and waiting outside; almost immediately the door swings open and Nepeta is walking out. Today you actually notice what she has on since it's not her biking gear or uniform.

She's wearing a black V-neck top with the Leo sign on it, an olive green jacket and grey jeans. Now that you see Nepeta somewhere in between working clothes and incredibly hot and badass bikers gear, you think she's really pretty. No that's wrong, she looks beautiful, even with her face coloured in different shades of black and blue. Though, you think she looks somewhat distraught as she gets in the passenger side of your car. You begin to drive to Nepetas old house.

"Hey Nep. Why the long face?" You ask and she takes in a deep breath.

"Equius says that I need to find another place soon because he's moving in with Aradia, his girlfriend. I could ask my furrend Terezi but she lives four hours away."

Now is your chance Karkat, go on and ask the girl.

"You can come live with me and Luka. I've been looking for a roommate anyway."

Nepeta perks up at this news and hugs you until you remind her that you're driving and she quickly apologizes.

"You would really do that for me? You hardly know me."

"Yeah I know enough to not smack you or some other shit like that, I know you like the colour green considering your biking gear and motorcycle, I know you have a sister named Meulin who owns the Leijon café, you enjoy hunting but not with guns like everyone else, you really like cats and cat puns, you like the cookies the café makes and I know you try your best to treat everyone nicely. Besides I'd much rather have you for a roommate then someone I've never met before."

You surprise yourself with the amount you actually know about Nepeta. You know more about her than you do about your brother, Kankri; though you tended to space out when Kankri spoke, he had a tendency to ramble. As a matter of fact she's probably gotten closer to you than anyone you've ever met, you can't even recall ever hugging anyone before meeting Nep.

Eventually you and Nep arrived at her old house, it was modest in size, made of regular red brick and some beige side paneling. Nepeta said Eridan wasn't home because his car wasn't parked in the drive way, you sigh in relief at this.

The inside of Nepetas old house is rather modest as well. The walls were a dull violet colour and the carpet was a pure white. The living room was spacious with large windows to veiw the back yard, it wasn't the cleanest, but most of the mess looked like microwaved food products, wrappers, and different articles of men's clothing. Nepeta look slightly ashamed at this and says that she usually cleaned the house but since she was with Equius she couldn't clean up after Eridan.

You take note of the large fish tanks against the left wall that contained some rather repugnant looking fish.

Eventually you and Nepeta had gathered all of her clothes, personal belongings, art supplies, and one stuffed cat that looked like it had seen better days, then put it all in your car. Nepeta declared the cats name was Ponce De Leijon and that it was the only thing she had from her parents. The cat looked like it was once a pure snowy white and was quite limp, most likely from loss of stuffing, it was stitched back together in several places and had a mouth that looked like a sideways three.

"Do you wanna get your stuff from Equius' place before we get your stuff in my house?" you ask and Nepeta nods vigorously so you drive back to Equius' house. When you get there Equius is outside so Nep hops out of your car and calls to him.

"We're back, Equius! Why are you outside?" she says as she cocks her head to the side in a rather cutesy manner.

"Eridan came by looking for you, he was drunk and rambling on about how you were, excuse my lewd language 'His bitch and ain't no glubbin' freak was taking you away from him.' Naturally I took care of the problem." He says, crossing his arms.

"What? What did you do to him?"

"Do not worry Nepeta, I did not harm him. I used intimidation, now is there anything you require before I fetch my towel?"

"I just came back to get my things because Karkitty says I can live with him, isn't that great Equius?" She cheered.

Equius nodded and then gave you a look as if to say, 'if you harm her you'll get it'. You gulp and nod at the muscular and sweaty man before he and Nepeta head inside to gather her things. After a while Nepeta came out with her biking gear on and a back pack over her shoulders.

"I'm going to follow you on my bike okay, Karkitty?" you nod and she smiles before putting on her helmet and walking over to her bike. You start your car and drive off towards your house; Nepeta follows closely behind you.

When you arrive you and Nep begin to move all her things into the now ex guest bedroom. When you both are done you and her sit down onto the mattress that will act as her bed for the time being.

She sighs and begins to speak. "I suppose I'll have to buy a proper bed and sheets then, huh?"

She giggles as you nod your head. "Yeah, we can go tomorrow if you want. The stores usually close at seven thirty and its six right now. You want me to order pizza?" You question before standing up and making your way towards her doorframe.

"No, I want to make something for you, as a thank you fur helping me out. Also would you mind if I paint the room, hospital white isn't really my prefurence."

"Nah you can paint the room, it's your fucking room anyways. I wouldn't care if you painted a giant wad of different genitalia all over the walls." Nepeta laughs at this and says she "would nefur do that, Karkitty!" Her slight accent and the nickname cause you to force down the blood currently rising to your face. Nepeta says she wants to get changed and then she would come down to cook dinner, you nod and go back downstairs to feed Luka.

As you feed Luka you begin to think about re-doing your room as well, maybe Nepeta could even help you with it. You watch as Nepeta descends down the stairs, she's wearing olive green short-shorts with black and white kitties on them with a black tank top and a red kimono robe with different Chinese designs on it. Despite her overall body being horribly bruised and scarred you really do find her breathtaking, and by breathtaking you mean you swallowed some air by accident and ended up chocking slightly to suppress a cough. She was, in all actuality, beautiful and you don't know how long you're going to last with her living with you.

Nepeta paddles over to the kitchen and begins to poke through cupboards, you offer to help but she says she would do it all by herself because she was doing it for you. You had to admit, she was extremely independent.

After a while Nepeta calls you over to the small table you keep at the far end of your kitchen for dinner. You see that she's made ham, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese melted on top served with two glasses of water; this is probably a better meal then you've had in months.

"I hope you don't mind me using your food I wasn't sure if you were going to use it in the future or not." She says quietly, scratching the back of her head in a rather cute way.

"Nep, my food is your food to. Now let's fucking eat!"

Nepeta giggles and you both sit down and have small talk about favorite foods, colours, songs, you name it. You learn that her favorite food is any type of seafood which is great because you really like crab but don't know how to make it. She says she took cooking lessons for eight years until she quit on her nineteenth birthday so she had time to work at her sisters' café. She's the same age as you but a month younger. You also learn she's a Leo, ironically because of her love for cats. Over all you think she's going to be the best roommate ever.


	5. Chapter 5

**=== Be the one drawing**

You are Nepeta and you are currently drawing your new roommate, Karkat. You don't know why but you are enjoying yourself; Karkitty does have nice bone structure after all. You learned a lot about Karkat last night at dinner. His favorite colours consist of anything dark and monotone aside from the colour red, his favorite food is crab (this makes you happy seeing as you enjoy seafood) and he has a brother named Kankri, to whom he insists is the most annoying person on the planet. Kankri was apparently a professor at the Alternia University for the Gifted teaching about social studies and human rights and taught kindergarteners basic reading and writing skills as a supply teacher in his free time.

Karkat told you he works at the roller rink down the street on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and during the other days he practices his filming skills; Karkat mentioned that he wanted to make movies someday. You told him that you wanted to do art as a career to which he had suggested that you 'fucking draw him if you wanted' so you use that as your current excuse for drawing the boy.

By the time you're finished your drawing you couldn't be happier; the drawing was your best one you had ever done. It was now eight thirty so you decided to make chocolate-chip pancakes for breakfast. Apparently when you were halfway done with cooking them, the smell had woken Karkat whose eyes were somewhat closed as he sat down with his mouth watering.

"Jesus fuck. What smells like a fucking unicorn shit rainbows and baked goods all over a road made from smores and cinnamon buns before galloping into the sky like fucking E.T in the moonlight, but without the shitty bike?"

You laugh loudly at his analogy before his head snaps up to face you and his skin becomes his favorite shade of candy red from ear to ear before he pulls his shirt up over the lower half of his face.

"Pancakes, it's Meulins recipe, she taught me it when I was younger. Are we still going to get things for my room today Karkitty?" You ask innocently and jump slightly at the groan slash squeak that bubbles its way from Karkats throat; you wonder what on earth possessed him to make such a noise. You think that maybe he's just not used to having someone living with him or to have someone reply to all his banter in his own home. Yes most likely the latter.

"Well they're done now, eat up!" You giggle, sliding two pancakes over to him along with some milk, maple syrup, butter, and utensils. Karkat muttered a silent thank you before digging in and eating like he hadn't had food in his entire life. He swallows before turning to face you to say something.

"Nep, I know you took cooking lessons but fuck, you could be a chef at a five star restaurant. At least tell me you used the pancake mix so I feel like less of a cooking atrocity."

"We have pancake mix?"

Karkats jaw dropped. You were just as confused, if you had known there was pancake mix you would have used that instead of baking from scratch. Karkat waved his hand in the air to dispel the previous conversation.

"Yeah, we're going to work on your room today. But Nepeta, do you wanna help me design mine? Manila coloured walls aren't exactly my preference." He shrugs before getting up to grab three more pancakes from the pile you had created. By this time you were sat down at the table with your single pancake, as you weren't particularly hungry that morning, Karkat however…

You ponder his offer for a moment saying you'd be happy to. Maybe one day- to repay you of course- he could go hunting with you. Maybe you could catch something like a rabbit to eat, or fish considering the river on the hunting grounds. Probably the latter, rabbits in your opinion don't taste all that pleasant.

The two of you finish eating and abscond to your rooms to get dressed. You choose a white t-shirt that's slightly baggy and crops just barely above your belly button, an olive green jacket the ended just past your bottom, and grey skinny jeans. You're glad that it's never cold in Alternia (Due to the proximity of the equator) because if you we're further north you would have to wear a coat this late in November.

You wait at the door after you put on your royal blue converse Equius had given you last Christmas and you saw as Karkat came down from his room. He was in a white (much to your surprise) turtleneck with a black cancer sign on the front and black jeans. His feet were donned with red Nike sneakers and his face adorned with his usual unpleasant domineer. He looked up at you and smirked before shaking his head and looking back to his feet.

You ask if he's ready and he gives you a curt nod accompanied by a familiar grunt. With that the two of you were out the door and half way to Skaian Furniture when you finally broke the silence you both seemed to be plagued with.

"Hey Karkitty?" You ask quietly and he mutters a quiet and grumpy yes.

"Why don't you smile much? The most I've efur seen you do is smirk. I bet if your smile is half as good as your smirk I'd be _swooning_." You giggle and nudge him slightly on the shoulder before looking at him for a response.

As if on cue, he gives you the biggest, corniest, smile you had ever seen in your entire life and you double over in your seat from laughter. When you collect yourself you see he's standing at your door holding it open for you. You quickly try to apologize but he declines saying it was his fault anyway.

You and Karkat spend hours in the store picking out paint chips and taking pictures of different furniture you both like. For Karkat he picked a multitude of greys and a candy red chip while you picked one grey, royal blue, maroon, and olive green for your paint chips. For your bed frame you found one that was ground level and had no underneath but had a few steps to make it seem like the actual bed was somewhat under the floor. You also picked out a glass topped side table and a black comforter set that had little green and blue kittens on it with black sheets to match. The desk you picked was somewhat harder to find though; the desk was large and meant for the corner of the room due to its size and 'L' shape. It was an art desk with a light table and storage on one end and the other side was made as a simple computer desk.

Karkat chose a simple black bed frame that had a metal back board of black rods along with a purple comforter and green sheets with little red crabs on them. You tried to tell him that it didn't really match together but he was persistent about his choice of bedding. He said he already had a desk and side table at home so he picked out an older Victorian style loveseat that was candy red- of course- with a dark wooden frame so that he didn't have to sit in his bed when watching movies in his room anymore.

By the end of the shopping day you bought all the furniture you had picked out as well as maroon for your main wall colour, along with a black for the accent wall which you bought embossed wallpaper for that had little kitties on it. Karkat got his furniture as well (though you were still confused about why he bought _that_ loveseat out of all the other couches in the store) along with dark grey and candy red paint for his walls. The two of you had even pooled some money for the store to take the larger furniture to the complex for you.

After a few hours of moving everything inside and upstairs you and Karkat flopped down onto his new couch in his room and it was, surprisingly comfortable.

"You want me to make dinner Karkitty?" You say, sitting up more to face him better.

"Fuck no, Nepeta I love your cooking but I wanna prove I have at least _some_ skill in the field of cooking." He said gallantly, placing a hand to his chest as he spoke. You were about to protest, but quickly shut your mouth and nodded when you remembered how persistent he was. Karkat tells you that you can fall asleep on his couch and hell call you down when he's done, you seriously hope he doesn't burn anything, himself included.


	6. Chapter 6

**=== Be the terrible cook**

You are now Karkat and you resent that comment. You may have burned the chicken and the peas but you are _not_ a terrible cook. Okay maybe you are but at least it's not under-cooked, that would be worse. The mashed potatoes you made are still okay, along with the soup you made as a back-up meal which tastes pretty fucking good by your standards.

Now that you feel… somewhat accomplished… you call down Nepeta for dinner. She, however, doesn't reply or even come down the stairs so you begin the journey to your room to go and get her. You find her asleep on your new couch (which is an awesome couch by the way) and you almost feel bad about waking her. You crouch next to her face and brush some hair from her face and sigh. You suddenly realize what you just did and blush furiously as you back up and shake her slightly.

"Nep wake the fuck up dinner's ready." You whisper-shout at her. Nepeta stirs slightly before her eyes flutter open and she giggles after she realizes what's going on.

"Oh alright, Karkitty. Thank you for waking me." She says before swinging her legs over the couch and following you down the stairs. Before you can get there the smoke detector goes off and the two of you bolt down the last few steps to see the start of a small kitchen fire. You forgot to turn off the oven… now the chicken was on fire, that's much worse than _burnt_.

"FUCK!" You yell as you and Nep race for the fire extinguisher. You get to it first and fumble with it before managing to turn it on. Eventually the fire is out and the oven is turned off, but the extinguisher is still going. You flail around in attempt to shut it off and Nepeta comes to your aid. Now the two of you are slipping and sliding all over the kitchen floor, covered in foam, and fighting with the fire extinguisher. Nepeta finally manages to shut it off, but not before the entire kitchen is covered in foam.

"Shit I'm so fucking sorry Nepeta; I only wanted to cook for you." You say. Nepeta giggles and says its fine and attempts to put the fire extinguisher back in its usual place before slipping and bringing you down with her. Nepeta fell right on top of you with her head buried in the neck of your sweater and you can feel the blood rushing to your face. Eventually you finally force down the blood from you face and sit up, pulling Nep upright with you.

"Fuck, all I wanted to do was make dinner for you, and now I burned _all_ the food I made. I'm sorry Nep; I really wanted it to be good food too." You face-palm, hard. After you feel Nepeta hiccupping and shaking you immediately think she's crying, but when you look up she's not. She's laughing; silently, but she's laughing. She claps a small hand onto your shoulder to steady her silent giggles and then wipes her eyes of the tears she's shed.

"It-it's- ppftt- It's alright Karkitt- Kar- hahaha- Karkitty, l-let's just order s-something." She manages to wheeze out. She looked so happy, like she was having the time of her life and it was only because of a faulty fire extinguisher. You think that she looked extremely pretty when she laughed, even if she wasn't making noise while she was. You shake that thought out of your head; you won't fall for your roommate, not on your watch, nope, not happening. No matter how much you want it to be, your life isn't like the shitty rom-coms you love to watch.

You're about to open your mouth to reply when your doorbell rings; great fucking timing. Nepeta is the first up and insists on opening the door, you let her. You here Nepeta call to you, indicating that the door was for you so you pick yourself up off the floor and storm over to where Nepeta was.

"Hey there motherfucking best friend, what miraculous things happened to bring cat sis into your life?" Gamzee.

You stand between them confused; did they know each other? And if they did, how? You think that this would probably be on top of your "things you never thought would happen ever in the rational world" list.

"Hey, Gamzee nice to see you too I fucking guess. So uh, how do you know Nepeta?" you ask innocently enough. Gamzee takes this as an invitation to come in (even though it's definitely not), so he does and sprawls himself across your steel-grey sofa in the living room, not even bothering to question about the foam you and Nepeta are coated in. Nepeta excuses herself to get changed and shower, patting Gamzee on the head as she absconds to her bedroom. You are just confused beyond belief.

You decide to sit down on the sofa, knocking Gamzee's feet of it as you do.

"So, how does someone who's as big of a shit head as you know someone who is even remotely like Nepeta, or in this case _is_ Nepeta." You ask again.

"My motherfucking bro Kurloz is all up and dating her sister Meulin. I think its bitch tits wicked if you ask this motherfucker." He states, pointing to himself. "Me and cat sis used to chill all the motherfucking time but eventually her totally un-miraculous boy toy said she all up and couldn't anymore. Speaking of Er-bro what the motherfuck all up and happened to him?" God you hated the way Gamzee spoke.

"They broke up so I offered her a place to live, so don't get any ideas you fucking wad." You cross your arms and huff angrily at your "best friend" before he chuckles deeply. He did always have a deep voice, even since middle school. You didn't want to talk about Eridan ever again. That shit stain of a guy is gone from both yours and Nepetas lives as far as you're concerned.

"I won't motherfucker don't worry about it. I thought you had all up and known her before anyway. She was in our senior class in high school."

"She was?"

"Yeah motherfucker. She said she hated her senior year, always talked about the bullies." He stated, leaning his head back.

"What fucking bullies? I never saw anyone bullying anyone ever I high school." You know it was more of a question than a statement, but Gamzee would answer most anything like a question or talk about how miraculous something was.

"Well, it was more of an after school thing from what cat sis told me. She said it was because of her cat loving family or how she did all up and have some parents. It only lasted a month before she beat those motherfuckers up though." He laughed at the last bit he said. You and he both knew that when it came to a fight with Nepeta, you were better off just apologizing for what you did and hoping she'd spare you. To any stranger, she was innocent and childish, you know because you once thought of her that way. However if you knew her well enough, like you did now, she was anything but innocent; childish? Maybe. But innocent? Definitely not.

You tell Gamzee its good she beat those ass lickers up, he agrees and your conversation is cut short by Nepeta bounding down the stairs in kitty-cat flannel P.J's. She immediately bounces right onto Gamzee's lap, curling up in it and hugging his lanky body tightly, and you couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy towards the juggalo.

"Gamzee I'm so happy to see you! It's been forefurr since I've seen you! I'm sorry Ampurra made me stop talking to you, I shouldn't have listened to him." She cries into his chest happily.

"Its bitch tits wicked to see you too cat sis! How's a motherfucker to do without you?"

The two of them giggle before Nepeta sits in a more "cradled" position on Gamzee's lap before punching him lightly in the chest.

"That's sarcasm Makara! I won't stand for this. But I missed you so I'll let it slide. OH! And by the way, how do you two know each other?" She asks, more directed at Gamzee than you, but you answer anyways.

"Gamzee and I went through all our schooling together." You grumble. Nepeta cheers and says she's elated that you two knew each other and that you could all hang out together sometime. You grunt in a half-hearted agreement before excusing yourself to get changed. You pick out a plain black t-shirt along with some grey sweatpants and exchange your socks for new ones before heading back down stairs.

When you get there, you find that Nepeta fell asleep on Gamzee's lap, and now you feel more than just the pang of jealousy than you did before. You silently sit next to Gamzee and hear a strange rumbling noise.

"Gamzee, do you hear that rumbling noise?" You whisper, trying not to wake Nep.

"Kar-bro, that ain't no rumbling noise, what you're hearing for the first time is cat sis' miraculous purring."

"Seriously?" You ask, still trying not to break the whisper.

"Yeah, she does it when she's asleep. She also does it when she's awake too, like when you all up and pet her hair or pat her back for long enough." He whispers back to you.

You didn't know Nepeta could purr. The thought of it is oddly adorable to you since Luka doesn't purr at all, and if he does than its maybe a once a year thing.

Gamzee shifts and stands up from the couch in such a way that he doesn't disrupt Nepetas content purring and hands you a fancy envelope before leaving your house. You put the envelope in the side table drawer without opening it before sitting back down and shifting Nepeta onto your lap. You can feel the soft purring rumbling through her chest and it makes your chest and stomach flip before sending what felt like all of your blood to your face. Eventually you unknowingly fall asleep with a softly purring Nepeta in your arms, and you feel total at peace with yourself for the first time in a while.


	7. Chapter 7

=== Be the one who's still asleep

Sadly you are no longer sleeping, but instead being woken up by the sound of Nepeta telling you to wake your ass up. You open your eyes to find yourself on your living room couch with Nepeta in front of you, standing in her bikers gear. You struggle to form proper words and end up making a distressed groaning noise, displaying your discontent with being woken up. You notice you currently have the old comforter from you room- the dull brown coloured one- draped over you. You begin to remove it but stop and pull it quickly back up. You really didn't need this not now not with her standing right in front of you holding a bag of pastries; you had no idea what to do, you had never had sisters, or a mother for that matter, so morning wood, well it was never an issue before now.

You curl your legs up and pull the blanket up to your nose, grunting out a good morning to Nepeta. You want to run and abscond to your room but stay stock still as she sits down next to you, folding her arms over the top of your knees and laying her head on them.

"I went to the café and got you your usual, I hope you don't mind. Also today's Sunday so maybe we could work on our rooms; if you don't mind could we do mine first?" She asked and you just grunt and nod, fearing that your voice would crack but manage a quiet thanks and saying the two of you would do her room first and that you don't mind.

"Karkitty are you feeling okay? You look like you're freezing and it's actually somewhat warm in here for me." She says, tilting her head to the side in a very cute manner that doesn't help your current situation in any way.

"Yeah I'm just uh; I just have bad breath right now! So I'm going to go get dressed and uhm clean my teeth because that's what people fucking do when… when their breath smells bad! Hahaha yeah so I'm cool, so cool. Okay I'm gonna, be right back." You quickly abscond bringing your blanket and leaving Nepeta utterly dumbfounded. You think you're absolutely idiotic "oh I just have bad breath", "that's what people do when they have bad breath" you are dick shit of the year and mentally slap yourself for making up such a terrible excuse.

When you reach your room you immediately turn on some loud music so that Nepeta doesn't hear you relieving yourself. When you finish, you clean up your mess and abscond to the shower to take care of your hair-which was still full of foam from yesterday's events. When you finish getting washed up and dressed- you chose some old black jeans and an old grey shirt because you would be painting Neps room today- you see that you have some texts from Gamzee.

From Gamzee Makara 10:27 pm

HeY tHeRe MoThErFuCkEr DoN't FoRgEt To OpEn ThAt LeTtEr. It'S bItCh TiTs ImPoRtAnT.

From Gamzee Makara 11:32 pm

KaRbRo ArE yOu GuNnA aLl Up AnD rEpLy, Or DiD yOu AnD cAtSiS fAlL aSlEeP?

From Gamzee Makara 11:54 pm

I gUeSs YoU fElL aSlEeP. cAn'T bLaMe YoU cAtSiS iS cUdDlY aS a MoThErFuCkEr CaN bE. BuT I HaVe tO WaRn yOu, If yOu hUrT NePeTa yOu dOnT WaNnA KnOw wHaT IlL Do tO YoU. aNyWaY I'll TaLk tO YoU LaTeR BeSt fRiEnD. hOnK :o)

Damn, you didn't think Gamzee was one to threaten, but you wouldn't say that that kept you from being freaked out in the least. As for the letter you had almost forgotten it. You briefly wonder why it's so important but Nepeta interrupts by knocking lightly on the door.

"Karkitty, are you decent?"

"Yeah Nep."

"Can I come in?" she asks

"Nep I don't fucking care." You all but shout through the door and you're heart skips a little when you hear her giggle and step through the now open doorway to sit down next to you on your *fucking awesome* new bed sheets. You notice she's taken off her gear and is now in some grey yoga pants and a loose black crop top that hung off her shoulder and an olive green tank top underneath. Her hair is slightly messy from her helmet but you think it looks good just the same.

She puts her hands behind her head and lies down with her legs dangling off the bed. For the first time since you met her years and years ago you take in every feature of her face. Her skin was more tanned than yours but she was more of a light caramel-honey skin tone. Her nose is small and slender and fits her face perfectly. The eyes she had were a wide almond shape with thick dark brown lashes framing them and had some darker freckles under them; as for the colour it was a bright olive green colour. They were just a generic colour but you can't help but find them extremely interesting; in a good way of course. But her lips, oh god her lips; you'd never admit it or even joke about it out loud but you've day dreamed about them on more than one occasion. They weren't too large but they were definitely not thin either, when she wasn't smiling her lips made a sort of pouty shape that-oddly enough- resembled a cats typical sideways three shaped mouth, it was cute on her though. They looked soft, like pillows or cotton candy, you wonder what it would be like to- no stop that, remember you are not going to let yourself fall for her.

Nepeta clears her throat and begins to speak. "Do you wanna eat your breakfast before we start painting Karkitty?" You nod and the two of you both leave your room, you to eat your breakfast and Nepeta to the garage for her paint cans. After all that the two of you set to Nepetas room.

So far you had put up her embossed kitty-cat wall paper on the far wall the bed was to be set against and painted it black, which was a pain because of the large window seat you both had to work around but you both did it surprisingly well. As for the rest of the walls they had been painted the maroon colour Nepeta was so fond of at the store. Next you painted your room after moving all of your useless shit either to the hall or away from the walls. You liked the new colour, sure it was grey but it was better than that god-forsaken manila colour. Nepeta, being as amazing as she is, helped paint the large candy-red silhouette of a crab; it also had your astrological symbol (cancer) behind it in the black paint used for Neps room.

When you were done you and Nepeta laid down on the floor, groaning from all the work you did.

"Hey Nep what time is it?" you ask and she pulls out her phone- which looks to you like one of those fancy android/ I-phone type things- and groans before putting her hand to her head with a loud smack.

"It's 7:30 pm, Karkat, we spent all day painting!" She said, sounding utterly distressed before letting out a loud sigh.

"Hey Nepeta." You say.

"Yeah?"

"Do you wanna just order pizza and watch a movie?" you ask, trying not to blush or make your voice crack due to your unwanted nervousness.

"Yeah definitely! Only if I get to pick the movie!" She giggles and nudges your shoulder with hers.

"Well, what do you wanna watch?" You ask and her face lights up like when she saw Luka for the first time and you can't help release a happy sigh.

Without saying a word, Nepeta gets up and walks over to her room. You wait a moment before she comes back with her hands behind her back. You gesture to her hands and bites her lip before asking you not to think of her as "one of those girls" and you say you never would, even though you're blatantly confused.

She pulls out a DVD from behind her back and it's entitled "the Vow" and you silently fan-squeal. She shifts slightly, waiting for you to say something, and you do.

"Yeah, but wouldn't you rather watch it on Blu-ray than DVD?" You smile; genuinely happy you both liked the same genre of movie. And she grins from ear to ear before hopping into your lap and hugging you. You cough slightly from the sudden impact but hug her back. It's nice, hugging her when she's not crying, it's a nice change.

She lets you go and you follow suit, watching her bound over to the stairs, waving at you to follow her. You do and you walk over to the small door that's for the tiny room under the stair case and call over Nepeta to see your "movie room". The room is full ceiling to floor with different kinds of rom-coms, all organized from left to right- left being your most favorite and right being the least.

Nepeta walks over and her jaw drops at the sight before her, she immediately hugs your bicep and looks up at you.

"Karkitty, can we watch, Remember Me too, or Hitch? OOO how about Fifty First Dates! Or, or Grease, Westside Story, or Serendipity!" She squeals; squeezing your arm tighter with ever movie title she says. You subconsciously smile and look down at Nepeta. You remove her from your arm and pull her in front of you by the shoulders.

"You can pick first." You whisper in her ear before absconding to the couch from your spur of confidence.

You and Nepeta end up watching Hitch, Grease and would have finished the Vow if Nepeta hadn't fallen asleep halfway through it. Currently Nepeta is curled up in your lap, purring to her hearts content while you absentmindedly run your fingers through her hair. It's as soft as feathers, just as you thought it would be.

Even though you want to fall asleep with Nepeta again like last night, you don't need a repeat of this morning. So you pick her up awkwardly at first and eventually carry her bridal style to her room and put her on the mattress in her room. You leave her for a moment to get a few blankets and a pillow for her. You tuck the pillow under her head and put the two blankets you get over her and tuck her in. Almost immediately, she curls up into a ball and snuggles into the blankets. You smile in content and get up to leave.

You walk over to her door way, about to leave, but you stop and turn around. You pick up Ponce de Leijon and walk over to Nepeta with the raggedy old stuffed cat. You lift one of her arms and put it under it before doing something you never thought you would do to anyone.

You lightly kiss her forehead and brush some hair out of her face before whispering to her. "Sweet dreams Nepeta." And with that, you turned out the light, got changed, and went to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

=== Be the one with the nightmare

It was dark; you sat in the living room humming softly when suddenly the door burst open, sending chills down your spine. In the door way stood Eridan Ampora. Your body stiffens as he approaches you, he's found you, and he knows where you are. You're cornered, you can't escape him.

Your throat closes, you scream and scream but no noise comes out, just air. You thrash your body around as he pulls a knife to your neck. You want him gone, you swat at him but you cannot hit him no matter how hard you try. He presses the knife to your neck and some blood runs down. You claw at your throat, trying to get every ounce of sound out but nothing is. The knife clatters to the floor as he grabs your shoulders and shakes you violently. Tears and sobs rip through your body as he shoves you to the floor and kicks you in the gut, hard.

The kick is then directed at your mouth, it's so hard that your teeth puncture your lower lip and you bleed profusely. Suddenly, you are shaking, your body moves on its own until you realize it's not you, its Eridan again. He's shaking you as you lay limp in his arms, crying and screaming silently for him to let you go. Then you hear a steady beating, fast paced, yes, but it was steady.

"Shoosh, Nepeta. It's okay I'm here, you're okay Eridan is gone forever, he's not coming back." You hear a voice say to you. However you keep crying but your screaming stops; you pull in the source of the voice closer to you, not quite sure who it was. After a while you stop crying and you feel the source lowering you back to your bed, the warmth of the carrier leaving; you don't want that- it made you feel safe.

"P-please… don't leave me." You whisper as loud as you can. Your voice is hoarse and scratchy in your throat and you don't like it, but the voice came back. The carrier of it climbed into the bed and you wrap your arms around it and it does the same to you.

You wake up to the sound of your alarm singing loudly. You groan and get up to turn it off when you realize something's different. The voice that calmed you down isn't in the bed; perhaps it was part of your nightmare, but everything was so vivid that you're not really sure. The nightmare seemed so real to begin with and that voice… well at first you think it was real, but like you said, it was all too vivid to tell what was a dream and what wasn't.

You shake your head of your latter thoughts and remember you have work today- hence why you actually set your alarm today. To say your work schedule is confusing would be an understatement. You work Monday through Friday but sometimes, which would be every other week, you get Tuesdays and Thursdays off per your sisters' request. Mondays through Wednesday you start work at five and the rest of the days you start at eight thirty. You usually get off work at 3 when you start at five and at four on the other days if you don't get off early.

Regardless you take a shower and get ready. This time you had your work clothes with you so you wore them underneath your suit which you pulled on after. You now stand in front of your bathroom mirror and sigh. You still have a faint black eye but the large hand-shaped bruise to the lower right of your face is gone. You opt to actually use your makeup today to cover the majority of your facial bruise as well as put some brown mascara and top-eyeliner on.

After you're completely ready and you've eaten you take out a note pad and write I not to Karkat.

Dear Karkitty

I'll purrobably be at work by the time you wake up but you'll purrobably swing by for your usual around 7:00 so I'll have it ready for you and all you have to do is pay when I give it to you. I don't know when you get off work but I get off work today around 3:00 if not earlier! Okay I won't take up any more of your time with this silly note, s33 you later!

~AC

You hope he reads it, he doesn't have to of course but you put it on the fridge anyways. With that you grab your helmet and put on your boots before you're riding your motorcycle over to the café.

When you've finished parking your bike and putting your suit away you decide to go talk to Aradia about your dream.

"Hey Aradia, I had the most vivid nightmare-dream thing last night and I don't even know how much of it was real." You say, rubbing your face with your hands as you lean on the counter with your elbows.

"Really? I'd love to know what happened in this, 'nightmare-dream' of yours." She said, crossing her arms casually over her chest.

"It was weird, first it was me and Eridan, I was at home and he burst in and he was attacking me, and I was bleeding a lot, but then the weirdest thing happened; and I don't know if this was part of the dream or not. I heard a really fast but steady beating and a voice! How bizarre!" You exclaim, throwing your hands into the air.

"Well what did the voice say?" She asks, politely ushering you on.

"Well, the carrier said something like 'it's okay, I'm here, Eridan's gone and he's not coming back'. Then the voice held me until I stopped crying and almost left until I called it back. I don't know why, but I just felt… safer, Y'know?"

Aradia hums for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin before turning to face to better.

"Well, was the 'voice' there when you awoke?" she questions.

"No, but it was so real. It was like a dream where you think you can feel what's going on." You answer.

"Well you better hope it's the last 'nightmare-dream' you get. I don't particularly like when you have nightmares Nepeta. Remember last year when you almost became an insomniac because you were too scared to sleep and have nightmares? I do and it scares me when you're like that!" She murmurs the last bit before pulling you into a hug.

You hug her back. You're glad she cares about you so much; even if sometimes you think you're not worth the worry. It makes you happy to know someone besides family cared. Even if Aradia was dating Equius and wasn't technically family, it felt like she was and it just put you more at ease.

The day dragged on, Karkat came in at seven like always, and you only dealt with one angry patron today. When you get home you see Karkat had left you a note which was right next to yours.

HEY NEP.

I GOT YOUR NOTE AND JUST SO YOU KNOW IT DIDN'T TAKE UP ANY ON MY TIME. I GET OFF WORK AN HOUR AFTER YOU. THAT'S UH AT 4:00 IF YOU WERE WONDERING. NOT THAT YOU'RE BAD AT MATH, JUST TO CLARIFY OF COURSE. OKAY WELL SEE YOU IN AN HOUR I GUESS.

~CG

You laugh at Karkats note. He always says the funniest things; you're glad he's your roommate. Since you have an hour until Karkat is home you decide to text Gamzee for a while.

AC: Hey Gamz33! :33

TC: HeY CaT SiS HoW ThE MoThErFuCk aRe yOu? :o)

AC: I'm just waiting for Karkitty to come home.

TC: Oh mAn, HoW Is kArBrO DoInG?

AC: He's happy I think. Well he smiles enough, so I should assume he's happy! x33

TC: No wAy, KaRbRo sMiLiNg?

AC: Yeah, why is that weird? :?

TC: YeAh, KaRbRo iS AlWaYs aNgRy aS A MoThErFuCkEr, I DoNt tHiNk i'vE EvEr sEeN ThAt mOtHeRfUcKeR SmIlE. aNd iF I HaVe tHeN HeS HiDdEn iT. fUcK I DoNt tHiNk iVe sEeN HiM AlL Up aNd hApPy bEfOrE

AC: Oh, I had no idea. H33h33 he's funny. When he gets home we're going to work on our rooms. Also I wanna tell him about my nightmare-dream thing! :PP

TC: WhAt wAs yOuR NiGhTmArE-DrEaM AlL Up aNd aBoUt? WaS It lIkE ThE OnEs lAsT YeAr?

AC: A little bit. It was more vivid though. Basically Eridan was hurting me and then some voice said that evfurry thing was okay and Eridan was gone forefurr. The second part is the part I'm not sure is real or not though! x33

TC: Oh Im SoRrY CaTsIs tHaT SoUnDs tOtAlLy uN-MiRaCuLoUs :o(

AC: It's okay gamz33! Anyway I have to go, I wanna get the blankets out of my room :33

TC: sEe Ya CaTsIs. HoNk :o)

You thank heaven for Gamzee, he was a good friend. Sure he drank a lot of faygo and ate weed-pie every now and then he was really a sweet guy. You set to your room and fold up the blankets before setting them in the linen closet. You decide to check the time and see that Karkat would be home in ten minutes. For the remainder of your time you decide to make Karkat some dinner. Thankfully the kitchen had been cleaned up since the… mishap.

You rummage through the fridge and find some shrimp; you decide to make fried shrimp for dinner. You fish out the flour, breadcrumbs, oil, and eggs from their respective places and set to work. When you finish, as if right on cue Karkat walks in, yelling his arrival to the house. Since you had eaten before leaving the café, you only made two shrimp for yourself- which you had already eaten- and bring out a large plate of fried shrimp to Karkat; you smile as you hold it in front of him.

"Nep, you didn't?" He asks, putting his things down and taking the plate from you.

"I wanted to make you food! So yes I did and you better eat it!" you exclaim, placing your hands on your hips in mock aggravation, and end up giggling instead.

Karkat walks over to the couch and sits down, waving you over as he does. You sit next to him and he eats, and compliments, the food you made. You decide to talk to him about your nightmare dream.

"Hey Karkitty, do you ever get nightmares that end like dreams?" You ask throwing your legs over his lap to lie down on the couch.

"No, why?" He asks, putting down his now empty plate of shrimp; you honestly don't know where he puts all that food.

"I had one last night. It was really vivid. There were parts that I thought were real but I'm not actually sure." You say, putting on a slight pouty face as a joke.

"Oh." He says, pulling up his feet onto the couch, cradling your legs in them before he shifts the collar of his grey on grey sweater and returns his hands to lie on your calves.

"So, uh. If you don't mind me asking, what was the dream about?" he asks.

You then describe every part of the dream that included Eridan then paused for a moment, causing Karkat to usher you on.

"Well, then I heard some voice saying 'Shoosh, Nepeta. It's okay I'm here, you're okay Eridan is gone forever, he's not coming back.' And the source of the voice was about to leave after my tears stopped but I think I recall asking it to come back. That's the part I think is real, but I'm not sure." You say, crossing one arm over your stomach before tapping a finger on your lips in confusion. You start to think about it, but then Karkat coughs, grabbing your attention.

"That part wasn't a dream. I uh, I heard you fucking screaming so I went to see what was up. You were thrashing your body around like you were having an exorcism and screaming really loud. So I grabbed you and tried to calm you down, but you kept screaming for Eridan to let you go and begging him not to kill you. So I stayed until you had stopped all the crying and screaming and I was about to leave, but you asked me to stay so I did." You the catch him blush but you couldn't be sure because he nuzzled the lower half of his face further into his sweater.

You then remove your legs from his lap and hug him around the waist. "Thank you." You whisper before he says it's no problem so you straighten yourself to face him, arms still around his waist.

"No, really, thank you. I used to get dreams like that all the time last year, but Eridan was… less than sympathetic." You say the last part quietly, even though you know Karkat heard you.

"So, would you say you're up for finishing out rooms?" you ask with a large smile on your face.

"I'd be more than up for it." he says, you can tell he's smiling, even with his face tucked into his sweater.

The two of you spend the next few hours putting everything together in your rooms. You and Karkat had finally finished your rooms and were tired as hell and lying in the hallway on the floor when your phone rings. You pull it out of your pocket to see Meulin is calling you.

"Hi Meulin! How have you been?" You immediately asked.

"I'm great! I'm glad you asked because you have the week off! That's how good a mood I'm in!" she shouts through the phone. She always did have poor hearing.

"Oh why?" you ask inquisitively. Now Karkat's staring at you, utterly confused.

"Well… Kurloz asked me to marry him and I want YOU to be my maid of honor!" You can almost hear her smiling through the phone. You squeal excitedly, causing Karkat to almost jump out of his skin.

"yes, yes, a million times yes! I'm so happy for you Meulin! When's the wedding?" You ask. And Karkat, bless his soul for trying to follow your conversation, mouths an 'O' before nodding.

"Okay, I know it sounds soon. Like, really soon. But it's in early February." She proudly states.

"I hope you can plan it all by then! But I have to go now, don't forget to send my invitation!" You all but yell through the phone. Meulin squeals out her goodbyes and thank yous before you end the call.

"So, Meulins getting married?"

"Yeah, and I get the week off, with payment!" You exclaim, sticking your tongue out at him.

"Now you're just rubbing it in!" He says, throwing his arms up in the air. You decide to go to bed and say your goodnights to Karkat before heading off to your room. Today was a good day.


	9. Chapter 9

**=== Be the one cleaning**

You are now Nepeta and are cleaning the living room. You decided to do this since you had already gone hunting, finished yours _and_ Karkats bedroom, baked copious amounts of sweets and were still bored out of your mind; you had only been off work for two days. Karkat is currently upstairs and messing with some coding. You can occasionally hear him curse, saying that he's "a worthless sack of shit programmer" and that he "isn't going anywhere in life". You, of course, disagree with him; he has plenty of potential. You loved the way he always went on and on about movies and film making; he knew so much and it all just left you somewhat star struck by him.

You knew that Karkat was mean and rude to most people, but you just knew that just under his hardened shell was a kind hearted person. You briefly wonder what may have caused him to act so forward with people but expel the thought, concluding that he was just who he was. You would notice that every day he would wear the chocolate brown contacts you had seen for many years; you don't understand why though. Karkat's eyes were so unique you had only ever seen one other person with them; Dave Strider. While Dave opted for 'ironic' and 'cool' eyewear, Karkat chose simple contacts.

Even though him and Dave had the same colour eyes, you can't help but feel you like Karkats more. Karkats held less emotion than Dave's when he was consciously aware of his actions but six times as much as Dave's when he wasn't. Karkats eyes were a much more vibrant shade of candy-red than Dave's more auburn coloured ones. You blush when you finally realize what you were thinking about; god you feel like such a girl.

You set to emptying the random trash that Karkat leaves in the side tables of the living room when he thinks you're not looking; you're always looking. You put the trash in the garbage but stop when you find an indigo coloured envelope with a fancy silver wax seal on it. You flip it over and see it's addressed to Karkat. You continue to study the letter as you walk up to Karkats room and knock on the door three times; per the norm. He shouts a short lived come in and you stand next to him; apparently he's watching Hitch. He pauses the movie and turns to you to ask what you want.

"I found this in the side table downstairs." You say bluntly, handing him the letter. He takes it and begins opening it. He pulls out a piece of crème coloured paper with fancy text on it and begins to read. When he's done he groans melodramatically tossing his head over the back of his seat. By this time you taken a seat on his couch and he's turned to face you.

"Well, what does it say?" You ask, smiling happily.

"Gamzee's dad is throwing a masquerade ball. I get invited every year but I can't ever go because I don't have a date; which is stupidly required by the way. It's held every year in the Skaian ballroom; you may have fucking heard of it though it's called the "Highblood Ball" as it is every god damned year. If I wanted to go I only have two days to find a date!" He crosses his arms while letting out a huff of air to blow some white hair out of his face. He was right though, you had heard about it. You and Gamzee or Eridan went together on multiple occasions but you weren't invited last year, or this year, because of Eridans ban on "other men" but you digress.

The Highblood Ball was a strange event indeed. You were asked to get a date but it was more… complex than that. You would give the spare invite that came with the letter to your date and after that you weren't allowed to talk about the ball again. You and your date would show up separately, the asker arriving to the ball at six thirty and asked the half hour later. The point is to dress like someone completely different; this meant dying your hair, cutting it, getting extensions, wearing fake piercings, and contact lenses. The whole event is planned by the Makara's which may explain why the whole concept of it was as strange as it was. Gamzee may have been a little off compared to any normal person, but his father was even more theatrical; and that was an understatement.

"You should go. I sounds like it would be fun!" You giggle at him, but he pouts, making you laugh more.

"Who would want to go with an asshole like me." He semi-shouted. He tried to make it sound like he was joking, but you could tell there was some hurt there; like he truly though so lowly of himself.

"For one, you're not an asshole Karkitty! Secondly I would want to go with you." You smile as he tries to hide his reddening face in his sweater, he was weird, in a good way though.

"Really?"

"Yeah, all you have to do is ask." Oh you are so going to milk this.

"Uh, okay well do you wanna go to the dance thing with me?" He asks awkwardly.

"C'mon Karkitty, you can do better than _that_." You are definitely milking this. Suddenly Karkat is standing next to you, ushering you to get up. You do and he gets on one knee as you chuckle inwardly before he clears his throat.

"Nepeta Leijon, will you accompany me, Karkat Vantas, to the Highblood Ball this Saturday." He says, more awkwardly then the first time; dare you say he was very cute when he was nervous. You place two hands on his shoulders and bend slightly to his level.

"I would love to." You giggle out before kissing him lightly on the cheek and leaving him to his movie once more.

**=== Be the one with blood up to your forehead.**

You are now Karkat Vantas and you are on what feels like cloud nine. Nepeta kissed you- on the cheek but still- and you can't say you didn't like it. Well fuck you sideways and call you Dora because you've found the map. No, don't actually do that you think that metaphor is truly horrible and you should be kicked for it. You have now been kneeling in the same position for about five minutes now with a hand lightly ghosting your over the bright red cheek that Nepeta had kissed. Her lips were just as soft as you thought they would be, if not softer. Maybe you do like her; though you'd never admit it out loud. You whip out your phone and decide to tell Gamzee you're actually going to his stupid juggalo ball this year.

**CG: HEY GAMZEE, I'M ACTUALLY GOING TO YOUR SHITTY BALL SO YOU CAN COUNT ON ME BEING THERE.**

**TC: ThAtS BiTcH TiTs wIcKeD KaRbRo. WhOs tHe lUcKy sIs gOiNg wItH YoU :o)**

**CG: I TOLD NEPETA I WOULD TAKE HER.**

**TC: Oh yOuRe aLl uP AnD TaKiNg cAtSiS? i wAs gOiNg tO InViTe hEr bUt i sTiLl tHoUgHt sHe wAs aRoUnD ThE UnMiRaCuLoUs eRiBrO AnD I DiDnT WaNnA StEp oN AnY MoThErFuCkInG ToEs. HoNk :O)**

**CG: YEAH YEAH DON'T WORRY YOUR FUCKING JUGGALO ASS IVE GOT THIS.**

**TC: AlRiGhT MoThErFuCkEr yOu gOt a sUiT FoR SaTuRdAy? YoU KnOw yOu gOtTa aLl uP AnD MaKe yOu lOoK AlL Up aNd nOt lIkE YoU RiGhT KaRbRo?**

**CG: YEAH I'M FUCKING AWARE. THAT MEANS I NEED NEW FUCKING CONTACTS AND HAIR DYE. AND NO I DON'T HAVE A MOTHERFUCKING SUIT. WHAT IS THE THEME ANYWAY?**

**TC: ThErE IsNt a tHeMe kArBrO JuSt cOmE In a rEaLlY MoThErFuCkInG FaNcY SuIt wItH ThOsE BiTcH TiTs cRaB CuFf lInKs aNd gEt kAnSiS To mAkE YoU A MaSk aNd sUiT. :O)**

**CG: OKAY ILL DO THAT. THANKS I GUESS.**

**CG: YOURE STILL A COMPLETE ASSHOLE THOUGH SO DON'T LET THAT THANKS GO TO THAT FRIED JUGGALO HEAD OF YOURS. BYE.**

**TC: SeE Ya sAtUrDaY MoThErFuCkEr :O)**


	10. Chapter 10

_(__**A/N: **__Random OC as Gamzee's lil' sis. Will probably be shipped with a cannon character [i.e Sollux] but I'm not sure yet, also sorry for the late update)_

**=== Be the one at the dress shop**

You are now Nepeta and you are standing on a platform for Kanaya (a famous local seamstress whom you and Karkat were friends with) as she took your measurements.

"You know Nepeta, if you continue to fidget I will not be able to finish this dress in time for Saturday." Kanaya says nonchalantly as she finished checking your measurements and began to pin the dress you were currently in into place.

"I know I'm just worried you'll pin me by accident." You say shyly as Kanaya begins to pin the other side of your dress.

"You know I would never do such a thing to you Nepeta. Although if you continue to move like this I may just do it out of spite."

You laugh at that and calm yourself down; you try not to move anymore for Kanayas sake.

"So, how do you plan on changing your appearance?"

"Well, I was hoping… since you are doing this dress for me and all… that you could do it." You mutter, blushing as you lower your head in an attempt to hide it.

"I am glad you asked. I would love to do it for you. I have always liked the idea of giving someone a complete makeover, even if it is only for one night." She says, looking up at you and smiling. You smile back, you always loved Kanayas smile; though it did freak some people into thinking she was a vampire due to her extremely sharp canines, they were even sharper that your cat-like ones.

"Thank you so much Kanaya!" You squeal, clapping your hands in joy while managing not to move too much for Kanayas sake.

"Well, I am done with the pinning. Would you like to get started on the rest of your outfit? I have anything here that any costume would require." She says, brushing the dust off of her floor length red skirt.

And so the two of you went off. Kanaya picked most things out for you however. She had picked out some contacts that made it look like you had completely white eyes, hair extensions that extended just past your bottom (those would be either done into some hair style or curled, as Kanaya had said), some white and diamond encrusted pumps to somewhat match your dress, a white lace mask that looked like the one cat-woman had in the Dark Knight Rises, and a large necklace that was silver and resembled the collar of a nice shirt but with jewels and lace-like patterns that matched the long silver earrings that went almost to your collar bone.

You had since paid Kanaya for the accessories and the dress and you would pick up the dress tomorrow around four AM so Karkat didn't catch you with it by accident. For the rest of the day you had done some hunting (managing to get a deer and a few rabbits, exchanging them for money), Talked with Equius about, well, everything, and were now working at your art desk in your room when you heard a knock on your door and shout for them to come in.

Karkat sauntered into the room and sat down on your bed before clearing his throat.

"You know, I've never actually seen your art."

"Oh, well you're sitting next to my sketch book so by all means go ahead and look. Though I can't help feeling that you came here for an actual purpose." You say, continuing your work at the light table, occasionally waving your arms around while you spoke.

"Uh, yeah I wanted to cook for you again. But could you like, fucking help me or some shit?" He grunts, playing with the comforter on the bed with his fingers.

"Yeah sure, just hand me the ruler on the bed first." You say pointing in some direction behind you, probably nowhere near the bed.

Soon you can hear Karkat come up behind you as he taps on your shoulder.

"So, what the fuck are you even drawing."

"I'm re-doing the drawing of you I made!" You giggle as you turn to face him with the original piece you had drawn of him. Karkat stands for a moment before widening his eyes and shifting them between you and the page.

"Nep, you got me spot fucking on."

"Heehee, thank you! Now, let's go teach you to cook!" you say as you take the sketchbook from Karkat and place it on the desk.

"I know how to fucking cook." He says crossly.

"Oh yeah? What happened last time you cooked Mr. grumpy pants!" You state as you bop Karkat on the nose before going to the kitchen with him on your tail.

After a long while of showing Karkat how, he's now currently cooking some crab on the stove while you observe and make sure nothing sets on fire again. You watch as Karkat gets flustered so easily by his small errors and difficulties, it was kind of cute if you had to say so yourself; so you did.

"Karkitty you're so cutesy when you're all flustered!" You laugh, wagging a finger at him before taking another sip of your hot chocolate (even though it was technically Karkats, you could always make more).

Karkat's face flushed at the notion but continued to place the crab on plates for the two of you, double checking to make sure the stove was _off_ before placing a blue plastic plate in front of you. The two of you were silent as you ate- both enjoying your food. The dish could use a lot of improvement but it was great none the less.

You begin to think about the ball and how much fun it would be. You would pick up your dress tomorrow and be set to go. Kanaya said she would drive you instead of you taking the rides offered to guests. You guess that it just made it easier for Kanaya to help you get ready anyway; this was there was no way Karkat could see you before the ball. You were excited; you silently wondered how the Makara's were doing. You knew Gamzee's dad wouldn't have a date since his wife died after Gamzee's little sister, Zaniya, was born (she was only a year younger than you, and would probably go with a friend of hers or Gamzee's), Gamzee would probably go with Tavros –his boyfriend-, and Kurloz would take Meulin _if_ they did end up going.

You hope Eridan didn't get invited; his family name was quite high on the social ladder after all. You know that if they did the whole family would be invited. Eridans brother Cronus would take Kankri- his best friend and Karkat's brother-, Eridan would probably scrape someone out from the unreached contacts on his cellphone and his dad would try to trick Vriska's mother into going with him, which, evidently, would work. Mituna, Kurloz' best friend, would be invited and take his girlfriend Latula. The Pixies family would no debut be invited; Meenah would take Aranea, Condesce wouldn't have to take anyone, and Feferi would take Sollux- Mituna's little brother.

This all was how you hoped it would go. Being and expert in relationships you knew that if any of your friends got together in a way you didn't like then the relationship would end eventually and it always did. Even though you liked when Equius and Vriska, and Sollux and Aradia were together and those ended you couldn't think of anyone better for Equius than Aradia. As for Sollux, well, you didn't know him too great.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Karkat taking your empty plate away from you. You smile and nod and thank him before he sits back down.

"Well, did I do a good fucking job or what? You were glaring pretty intensely at your food so I really don't know."

"It was great Karkitty! And don't worry about my glaring, I was just lost in thought I guess!" You giggle.

"Oh. Thanks then. What, uh, what were you thinking about?" He asks oddly politely for him.

"I can't tell you! That's against the rules of the thing!" You say crossly before leaning back in your chair.

"The thing?" He says it slowly before repeating it until he finally understood.

"I just realized I won't see you at all tomorrow Karkitty! I have so many errands to run, and then there's the thing which I can't say because of the rules!" You pout.

"Right." He says, getting up to walk over to the living room. "Well? It's your fucking turn to pick you know." He grunts. You nod and pick out _The Notebook_ and before long you've fallen asleep on Karkat again.

**=== Be the one hearing strange noises**

It's twelve thirty at night and all you can hear is weird groaning and whimpering noises coming from the roof. You don't think anything of it until you hear a shrill scream through the night and bolt to the roof. There you see Nepeta standing, or tumbling around rather, on the roof. You don't know how she even got up here, was she sitting up here after you went to bed? No that can't be right; you take a closer look to see she's actually sleep walking.

You stand on the roof for a moment, watching Nep scream out and yell for whoever it was in her dream to 'stop it' and begging on her knees for them to stop what they were doing. You are in utter shock until you notice that she is slowly walking to the edge of the roof. You scream a loud no into the air and leap after her; catching her as she trips on an air vent protruding from the rooftop. You hold her into your chest and murmur to her that the people are gone and you're there and you aren't leaving her alone ever again. Eventually you carry Nepeta back to her room and sleep with your arms protectively around the small girl.


	11. Chapter 11

**=== Be the one sneaking**

You are now Nepeta Leijon and you are currently tucking Karkat into his own bed at three thirty in the morning. Why; because you had a dress to pick up. It took about ten minutes to haul the sleeping boy into his own bed and tuck him in- thanks to your stellar body strength. You quickly got dressed in your own room and drove off to Kanaya's shop on your bike. When you arrive you see that Kanaya is patiently waiting by her sewing machine, stitching up some pants.

The door chimes as you walk in and Kanaya jumps up to greet you.

"Hello Nepeta, I'm glad you could make it." she says, giving you a light hug that you were unable to return as she ran off into the back room. You sit on one of the couches near the front until Kanaya comes out carrying a dressing bag with your name on it.

"Well, come on, I want to see it on." She says, ushering you over to the dressing rooms.

When you're done you walk out and Kanaya sighs dreamily at the dress. It wasn't a new dress; it was from the first ball you went to with Gamzee three years ago. You had Kanaya change the colour and fix a few holes and it was good as new. You didn't see the point in buying a new dress when you could just re-use an old one (and you had tons of old ones).

The dress was a large ball gown. It had a strapless black sweet-heart corset top with jewels across the bust. The skirt was an organza of tiers and ruffles that would have resembled water if you hadn't changed the colour from blue to your favorite shade of green with some black ruffles mixed in. The dress made you look much more slender and busty than you really were due to the shape of the top; personally you loved that about it.

"You know, Nepeta, Karkat is very nervous about today; though he won't admit it himself." Kanaya says.

"Really?" You give her a sceptical look and she chuckles.

"Yes. He wouldn't stop fidgeting and double checking that I was doing things correctly and being very fussy." She mumbles as she fiddles with the ruffles on your skirt. You laugh at the way she described Karkat was acting. Could he really be that nervous? Sure it was his first time going to the Ball but it was essentially just like prom- but more complex.

"He shouldn't be nervous; it's just like prom!" You exclaim. "He also mentioned Gamzee was picking him up as well, so I don't understand why he would be so nervous." You wiggle a finger at the girl putting heels on your feet as she looks up to face you.

"Oh, I don't think that it is the ball he is so nervous about." She smiles- no not smile, more like makes an evil grin at you, you scoff at her.

"Oh purrlease, he's got nothing to worry about. If he comes by today just tell him that everything will be fine!" You shrug- heading back to the change room and continuing the conversation through the door.

"I have been telling him such things ever since he first came in. He's still nervous though. I believe his motives for the feeling must be something exterior to the ball- or perhaps something happening there."

"He might be worried about Equius; my cousin is very protective of me after all."

"I do not believe that is the case here."

"Oh, whatefur. We have more important things to discuss. Like theses shoes! They're even better than the white ones you gave me."

"Ah, yes those black pumps look simply stunning on you, however the white ones match your mask and the ribbon on the lace up top of your dress; making a better match."

"Yeah, you're purrobably right." You say as you finish putting your clothes on and bagging the dress back up- walking out of the change room.

"You know, Nepeta, since you're coming back later I see no reason to take the dress with you. Would you like to keep it here?" Kanaya asks. You quickly say that would work better anyway and are on your way out the door after saying goodbye to the slender seamstress.

When you get home it's about four fifty seven and you had gotten back into your and brushed your teeth, again. You walked up to your bed and became very nervous to go to sleep. You didn't want to have the dreams- or horror terrors rather- again. They were all just so vivid; twice in the short time you had lived with Karkat had you had the dreams. You weren't sure how Karkat found you this time though. You don't remember what room of the house you were even in. All you remember is Karkats safe arms enveloping you and saying everything was okay and that he would never leave you. It was nice- more than nice.

You, deciding you were too afraid to sleep alone, waltzed into Karkats room and shook him slightly out of his sleep, leaning you head onto his bed as you prod him. Karkat stirs a bit and turns to face you- you blush at the closeness of the two of you, as your noses were almost touching. With a few more pokes he rubs some of the sleep out of his eyes and his eyes immediately lock onto you.

"N-n-nep, what is it?" He mumbles- you notice the nervousness in his voice; you wouldn't have noticed it is Kanaya hadn't pointed it out earlier.

"Uhm, well, I'm furry scared, err, too scared to sleep alone, so can I maybe…" You blush slightly as you notice that you're rambling. Karkat lifts up the covers and look at you.

"Well? Are you gonna get in or not?" he whisper shouts at you. You nod and climb in, immediately hugging Karkat and cuddling up to him, laying your head on his chest.

You always felt Karkat had a warm sense to him; almost homely. He smelled like a camp fire and sometimes. On rare occasions though, he smelt like cherries, which you later found out was the scent of his cologne- you laughed at that when he told you. He attempted to justify his choice in scents by saying that cherries were 'fucking awesome' and you just laughed and said that it was adorable. His hair looked like it was brittle and dry as if it had been bleached too much, but it was just as soft as cat fur- in your opinion anyway.

His eyes- his real eyes- were like, well you didn't know anything that would be able to sum up the beautiful red colour that resided in his irises and probably never would know anything that could. Like roses? Rubies? Garnets? Apples? You pondered for a while, eventually settling on two, blood being the first- though you felt it was a little morbid- and ripe cherries being the second.

That wasn't to say you didn't like his contacts. They were plain but they suited him when he wore them. They were chocolate-milk brown; you had grown used to those eyes ever since the first time he walked into the café when you were nineteen, that was five years ago. It was a year before you met and got together with Ampora. You recall you had thought he was, excuse your clichés, the most handsome boy you had ever laid your eyes on; you recall at one point to have considered it love at first sight. You laugh inwardly at how naïve you used to be.

You had been woken up to the sound of birds outside and sunshine through the grey shudders in Karkats room. You looked over your shoulder to see that it was two in the afternoon. You jolt upright and wake up Karkat in the process. He looks at you angrily then his gaze shifts to the clock and he scrambles out of the bed and over to his closet, throwing out sweater after sweater.

You start saying oh my Gog repeatedly as you flail out of the covers on Karkats bed before eventually falling off with a loud thud, gaining Karkats attention. He rushes over to you and is about to ask you if you were okay but you burst out laughing and pushed yourself up using Karkats shoulder as leverage. You begin to remove your clothes as you run out of the room; only in your bra and pyjama pants as you finally exited- you really hope Karkat wasn't looking at you.

**=== Be the one that's completely flustered**

Well you can't help but be flustered! Nepeta just ran out of your room topless and you hate to say it but you caught more than a glimpse of her half-naked chest and royal-blue lace bra- and you can't deny you liked it. Nepeta had many scars and bruises yet she was still utterly gorgeous to you. You spent more time standing there thinking of the size of Nepetas chest than you were willing to admit to. The looked like either a large C or small D; then again you really knew nothing about bra sizes so she could be an A for all you knew, not that you wanted to go too deep into bra terminology. Besides you had things to do and you had been standing there with a sweater half over your head for five minutes already.

You decide that there was no point in you getting dressed since you would have to get re-dressed later so you remove the sweater and grab your pyjamas and clean boxers- they had crabs and cherries on them, though you don't think that's relevant, they were just cool boxers- before heading off to your bathroom to shower.

When you get out you call for Nepeta but there's no reply. You go downstairs to the kitchen to find a note and a paper bag.

_Karkitty_

_ I purromised Kanaya she would dress me up so if you need anything that's SUPURR important that where I'll be! You were in the showpurr so I figured I would get you your usual furrom the café like I do evfurry day. Can't wait to see you at the ball. Kanaya said you were very nervous and giddy when you went to see her. Just so you know there's nothing to be nervous about, beclaws it's just like purrom! H33h33 see you tonight!_

_ ~Nepeta_

You laugh at her cat puns and begin to eat your bagel and coffee while you think. You were semi-glad that Nepeta thought it was the ball you were worried about. This was because you didn't have to make up and excuse for your nervousness or anything like that- which you were grateful for. It also made you a little sad to know that it wouldn't give you an excuse to pull a cheesy rom-com moment and tell her how you feel about her; not that you would pull one in the first place. If that did happen you would just dodge the subject or bring another person into it like the fucking idiot you are, not to mention what and idiot past you was.

After you had gotten completely ready it was six so you waited patiently for Gamzee's juggalo ass to come and pick you up. You had opted for a solid black suit with the cancer sign embroidered in a green-grey colour that Kanaya had picked; she had said that it would match the tie- and it did perfectly. You had a silver tie pin with a crab on it to match the crab cuff-links you had as well as black dress shoes.

You had used a temporary one-week lasting black hair dye on yourself, other than that all you did was brush and wax it a little like you did every day. You really hated hair dye, the smell of it was nauseating but Gamzee and Kanaya had insisted you use it as you natural white would be a dead giveaway of who you were. You had also gone out of your way to find solid black contacts which you had to exchange for white ones that made you look like you had no eyes since you had a reaction to the black ones; the white ones were the only thing left in the usual brand you bought your normal contacts from.

After feeding Luca and giving him water Gamzee had arrived and you were on your way to the ball- more nervous than you thought you would be.


	12. Chapter 12

**=== Be the one waiting**

You had just arrived at six thirty with Gamzee and now all you had to do was wait for Nepeta. Gamzee still had his juggalo ass make-up on but he had inverted the colours, his hair was still large and fluffy but it was more, well less, tangled. His suit looked like a classy and very formal dark indigo clown suit. It was essentially a regular suit, but it had the corny clown flower in the breast pocket and he wore a bright and large indigo bow tie.

Gamzee had invited his long-time boyfriend Tavros as you had expected. The two had been dating for two years; tonight was their anniversary seeing as Gamzee had finally gotten enough courage out of his ass to ask the boy out the day of the ball, well during the ball. Gamzee had said that the Ampora's were not invited in light of recent events. He wouldn't tell you what happened but he assured it was nothing to do with Nepeta; that pleased you. As for the Pixies family only Condesce and Meenah were going. As far as you knew Feferi was unable to find a date since Sollux promised Gamzee he would take Zaniya, your juggalo friends' sister.

You had only met Zaniya twice before. Every time you went to see Gamzee she was either cooped up in her room or out with friends. She was the most normal of the Makara family, not to say she was normal in the least by society's standards. She too had the large main of black and fluffy hair all the Makara's had, hers however reached down past her waist and was streaked with dark indigo. She also wore the juggalo paint but had the outline of circles on her cheeks that connected to black lipstick and thick eye liner. She didn't wear it often, only for special events or if she was bored. She was very slender and tall and could be a model but opted to study chemistry at the school Kankri taught at.

You check you watch and see that it's only one minute before the dates would arrive. Impatiently, and almost tripping on the leg of Gamzee's chair, you stood up and waited. You put your mask on for the first time. It was the same iconic half mask from Phantom of the Opera and was fitted to your face by Kanaya.

Guests filed in one at a time and that's when you spotted her. You knew it was Nepeta, even with all the changes to her. You won't deny that you internally swooned and thanked Kanaya for the makeup to cover whatever amount of blushing you might endure tonight.

Her hair was to her waist and had large ringlet curls in it that swung with every move of her body, her eyes were the same as yours- whited out. Her mask was lacy and white that framed her eyes which were blackened from expertly done eye lashes and eye liner, as for her dress it was ruffled and made her look absolutely stunning. If you hadn't already fallen for the cat girl you would definitely be face first into the ground right now. She was beautiful.

You have to restrain yourself from running over to the place where she is standing; you can't lose whatever cool you have left. Instead you saunter over to her and tap her on the shoulder and she turns around to face you.

"I'm sorry, was there something you needed?" She says politely.

"A dance with my date would be nice thanks." Hell yeah, you are one suave motherfucker. Nepetas eyes widen and she blushes furiously- it's adorable, ah- she's adorable.

"Oh, Karkitty! You look so different, you look really nice!" She beams.

"Uh don't get used to the hair its temporary. And uh- you look," Alright time for you to grow some balls, "B-beautiful. Not that you don't always look, uh, fucking amazing, but you know, tonight you're all fucking dressed up so-" You get cut off by Nepetas giggling and you realize you were rambling; suddenly you're much more thankful for the makeup Kanaya gave you.

"Thank you Karkitty. Kanaya said you were nervous; honestly it's just like prom! You do know how to ballroom dance though, right?"

"Promise not to tell anyone this?" You ask and she nods. "I used to be in ballroom dancing lessons, mainly tango." You say quietly enough that only Nepeta would hear you. Nepeta chuckles a bit before pulling you to the dance floor.

You lead while dipping and twirling her as well as doing some lifts. Nepeta was actually a very good dancer, it didn't surprise you though. You learned from day one of actually speaking to Nepeta to expect nothing less than surprises. Nepeta could cook, paint, draw, hunt with bare hands, hand held weapons, and many kinds of guns, beat the shit out of someone four times her size in less than ten minutes, she could do parkour and free running, loved movies, purred in her sleep, and most of all: she could make you happy.

After what felt like hours of dancing (and it really was about two hours of dancing) Nepeta beckons you out to the balcony to get some air. You think that you're ready to tell her you like her. No, you know you were ready to tell her. You desperately wanted a real life rom-com moment and you felt that this could be it.

"Hey Nep."

"Yes?" She turns away from the lake she was looking out at to face you curiously.

"I just wanted to say that I'm really glad you moved in with me." You could barely finish before Nepeta is crushing you in a hug.

"I'm glad too."

You rest your chin on her head and pet her hair lightly. You are about to tell her what you really wanted to when suddenly someone grips you by the shoulder and pulls you away from Nepeta with great force. You're about to cuss out the person until you see the fear in Nepetas eyes. You turn and come face to face with the one person you never wanted to see ever again: Eridan Ampora.

"What do you fuckin' think you're doin' with _my_ catnep." He slurred, obviously drunk.

"First of all fish fuck, she's not _your_ anything! Secondly how the fuck did they let your ass in; and lastly would you kindly _fuck off_." You're seething and you don't care who knows it. He wasn't invited; you were enraged at who thought to bring him.

"Fef brought me; only 'cause I blackmailed her of course. Now get the fuck away from my girl!" He shouted again, almost none to nose with you before he is pulled away by a pair a very large and very familiar hands; it was Gamzee's father.

"I think it's time you motherfucking get out of my party motherfucker; you've done enough motherfucking damage tonight." He says darkly; Gamzee's dad was always menacing when he was angry, and boy was he fucking angry.

Mr. Makara grabbed Eridan, threw him over his shoulder and walked away with Eridan shouting profanities- mostly at you- and causing a scene. You turned back to face Nepeta and she is shaking violently and gripping the railing as hard as physically possible while trying to find interest in the lake again.

You hesitantly place a hand on her shoulder and she flinches; you decide not to move your hand.

"Nep." You move closer to her. "Are you going to be okay?" You ask and she shrugs, taking in a shaky breath.

"Do you wanna stay or leave?" She doesn't respond. "Do you wanna wait out here?" You ask hesitantly and she nods. You grab her hand and lead her to the large bench-swing under the gazebo. You had to admit, though they were strange, the Makara's really knew how to throw a classy party and they picked a pretty fucking nice place too. The two of you sat in silence for a while until Nepeta finally speaks.

"Karkat." You hum in acknowledgement. "Tell me about your parents, why do you never talk about them?"

The question catches you off guard, but you comply none the less, even if it was hesitantly.

"W-well, there isn't really much to them. I don't know who they are since I was adopted." You pause for a moment to wait for Nepeta to say something, she doesn't so you continue. "Kankri and I were adopted together, so he's really my brother by blood, though he doesn't share the same fucking albino shit. We were adopted by the Maryam family, so yeah Kanaya's my adoptive sister; we don't tell people that though. I lived with her, her sister Porrim who's Kankri's best friend, probably the only friend he will ever fucking have, and my mom, Dolorosa.

"We had a dad once but he was cruel and angry and drunk- which is why I hate that guy who just got kicked out so fucking much. And apparently me and Kankri have a half-brother some-fucking-where on the planet, but we really aren't sure yet. Personally I don't think we do though." You finish and Nepeta nods to let you know she was listening.

"Can we go home now?" She asks quietly.

"We can do anything you want Nepeta." You respond and she looks up at you.

"Anything?" She asks skeptically; you nod.

"In that case we're going to McDonalds!"

"What, right now?"

"Yeah I'll call a taxi." She says.

"Why now, it's like what nine fucking thirty at night." You ask her, crossing your arms.

"Beclaws A, I'm hungry, B, you said anything, and C Why not?" She giggles. You're glad to see the cat puns returning.

The two of you go to McDonalds in your ball attire and also sit in the park and stare at the sky for a while, pointing out constellations, before Nepeta fell asleep on your shoulder. You try not to move too much as you pull out your phone and call for another taxi to take the two of you home. While you wait for it to arrive you mindlessly stoke Nepetas newfound and most likely short lived long wavy hair.

It wasn't that you didn't love her short hair, but you quite enjoyed the long hair on her as well. You wondered if maybe she had at one point had long hair like this, not that it would matter anyways. When the taxi arrived it was about ten minutes later and you finally managed to maneuver Nepeta into a position you could carry her after many failed attempts and many ruffles in the way.

When the two of you got home you lay Nepeta down on her bed. You had considered putting her into her pyjamas but decided against it since it would be exceedingly awkward for you and even more so if she woke up in the process; that and she might freak out and think you were Eridan trying to rape her, god you hated that guy.

You sit next to Nep for a good long while before you decide you should sleep as well. Hesitantly, you did something you didn't think you would ever do before you met Nepeta. You leaned down slowly, and unsurely, before placing you lips on Nepeta's forehead. You peel away after a few moments feeling something bubble in your stomach, most likely nerves, and heading off to your own room.


	13. Chapter 13

**=== Be the bored one**

You are still Karkat which means that you are currently bored out of your mind. It was a Sunday and Nepeta, saying she felt bad for not working all week, decided to head in to work around five A.M. This left you feeling stunningly bored having already gone in to get your usual breakfast from the Leijon café. You had already watched two rom-coms (one of which was Hitch and the other was the Notebook) and cleaned your room twice. Currently you were sat in the living room where you nearly jumped out of your skin at the sound of a cat-type ringtone. Apparently, Nepeta had managed to lodge her phone between the couch cushions; you dug out her phone and look at the caller I.D for the text massage.

**From: Ampora. E**

**Nep you fuckin' bitch answwer your damn phone! I know you read evvery one of my glubbin' texts and listen to all my vvoice mails!**

Oh no. Oh hell no. Oh hell _fucking no._ This dude was not about to get away with texting Nepeta like this. You check her phone and see that she has about three voicemails and twenty texts from Eridan, all unanswered. God he even sounded like a douche in text form. You would call the police on this fish-fucker but Nepeta begged you not to, and really, you can hardly say no to her. You resist the strong urge to text him back saying to not-so-kindly-fuck-off because you know that you'll just fuck something up like you always do.

You put the phone on the coffee table after checking the time to see it was a little after five in the afternoon. Nepeta said that she would be home by four at the latest since Meulin would most likely get her to leave early; it worries you that she's late. You decide to call the café.

"Hello you have reached the Leijon café, I'm Aradia how can I help you?"

"Oh thank fucking god someone I know." You sigh.

"Karkat is that you? Why are you calling this late?" Aradia asks.

"Yeah it's me; I was wondering if Nepeta was _still_ fucking working." You say urgently.

"I thought she was home with you; she left two hours ago." Her voice sounds more panicky now.

"I'm coming over there." You say angrily before you hung up.

"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!"

You continue to shout obscenities as you pull proper pants and a jacket on, not bothering to take your car, or not thinking to rather, and run your ass to the café. When you get there you're panting heavily and almost instantly Aradia's by your side with a glass of water. You thank her and gulp it down quickly.

"Karkat, did you run here?"

"NO! I had a fucking magic carpet ride like fucking Aladdin! How the FUCK do you think I got here Aradia?!" You all but yell at her.

"Yeah, but I thought you had a car?"

"Would have taken me longer to find the fucking keys then to run here." You huff as you plop down into the booth nearest you.

"Well I checked outside and her bike isn't there. Did she say she was going anywhere after work?" She asks, surprisingly calm for the situation.

"She said she might go hunting." You reply.

"Well c'mon let's take my car."

And with that the two of you were driving to the hunting range to find Nepeta. You seriously hope Nepeta is just hunting and that Eridan didn't find her or something of the like happened to her. About five minutes into driving you see some police officers off to the side of the road standing next to an awfully familiar looking bike.

"Aradia, pull the fucking car over." Aradia complies and the both of you get out to check on the situation.

"Excuse me but you two can't be here." One officer says; you're about to cuss him out but Aradia begins before you can get yourself into trouble.

"We're looking for our friend, that's her bike there." Aradia points to the trashed bike on the side of the road. "She has short brown hair, green eyes; she's about five feet tall, have you seen her? Her name's Nepeta."

The other police officer nods and says paramedics transported her to the Dersian hospital an hour ago and that they were just doing clean up. The two of you almost run back to the car and speed off to said hospital; thankfully the cops decided not to pull the two of you over in light of the situation.

When you get there you try to tell Aradia to either stay in the car or go home but she protests saying she's known Nepeta much longer than you have and that the two were almost best friends, so you let her come in. The evil-looking lady at the front desk groans when you ask where Nepeta is as if she hates her job; she probably does hate her job actually. Apparently Nepeta was in the priority wing of the hospital, second floor, room 4056.

When you get there a nurse says you only have a couple hours until the two of you have to leave. You decide to let Aradia go first so she can get home sooner. After an hour of pacing on your part Aradia comes out and smiles sadly at you before taking her leave without a single word towards you.

As soon as you rush in you see Nepeta is lying with her left foot and arm in a splint; not to mention the semi-bloodied bandage wrapped around her head and another around her torso. She smiles at you and you see she's missing her top right lateral incisor; you think her smile is pretty anyways. You run over in a panic, sloppily pulling the chair next to her bed and taking her good hand in both of yours before you speak.

"Nepeta, do you know _anything_ that happened?" You ask and she frowns and winces slightly.

"It was a hit and run. It was on purpose though." she says. Her voice is crackly and her words are broken, barely reaching your ears; you lean in closer and she repeats herself again.

"What do you mean on purpose?"

"Eri- _he_ followed me from work and hit my bike with his car. The police are looking for him so purrlease don't furet about it Karkitty."

You are furious, that dick deserves nothing but hell for the shit he's put Nepeta through, you try to tell her this but she insists that she's had worse; she chuckles lightly as she tell you about the time she got into it with a bear while hunting. You laugh nervously along with her before asking A: how bad the damage to her person was, and B: when she's allowed to come home again.

"Well, I'm sure I'll be out soon since Equius' brothers' boyfriend, Rufioh Nitram, is my doctor. But he said maybe by the end of the day considering the injuries aren't too serious. As for those, broken ankle and arm, two broken ribs that they already set, and a lot of stitches to my shoulder and head; other than that I'm golden! Rufioh said that the only surgery I'll need is for my arm since my ankle has minor damage. Apparently I'm furry lucky. I'm just happy I can keep up both of my physical hobbies _and_ I'll be better in just under a month!" Nepeta giggles out the last part, coughing slightly at the end of her rant and you sigh in relief. You know she hunts, but what other hobby could she have that's _physical_.

"Wait, I thought your only physical activity was hunting and shit like that."

"Oh, the other one's embarrassing…"

"Nep, you know I of all people, wouldn't judge you for even the stupidest shit. Look at fucking Gamzee's juggalo ass; do I judge him? No, no I don't."

Nepeta mutters something under her breath; you think it was something like chelly snalising but you ask her to repeat herself since that option sounds extremely ridiculous. Nepeta groans and does a face palm times two combo before looking back up at you.

"Belly dancing." She says.

Before you have a chance to respond or otherwise dwell on the subject mentally the door swings open to reveal Tavros' brother Rufioh in all his doctorly-glory. Rufioh says that he brought a wheel-chair and that he called a cab for the two of you to get home. You thank him and eventually you are at home with Nepeta and carrying her bridal style, almost tripping over your elusive cat Luca, to her bed.


	14. Chapter 14

**=== Be the one fixing Nepeta's pillows**

You and Nepeta were sitting in your living room, Luca was curled up in Nepeta's lap as you fixed the pillows under her back and feet. Now, you didn't _have_ to do this for her. However Rufioh said her healing would probably be easier if someone was there to help her so you had decided to take two weeks of work to cater to Nepeta's every need, as corny as that sounds. It took some convincing but when you told your boss the whole story, she let you off work for the two weeks you had requested. Currently you- well Nepeta rather as you were preoccupied with fixing her pillows- and Nepeta were watching Disney's Rapunzel. After all, what kind of rom-com collector leaves out sappy animated movies anyways? Not you that's for-fucking-sure.

Speaking of yourself, the juggalo clown that did your hair said it would be back to normal within a single shower but it wasn't. Now you were stuck with the black colour until it either faded or grew out; you're betting more-so on the latter. You had finished with Nepeta's pillows and already fetched a large bowl of chicken noodle soup for her- which you made by the way- never mind that it was just copious amounts of canned soup- and were now sitting with Nepeta's feet resting in your lap as you played with your hair.

"You know Karkitty; just beclaws you play with it doesn't mean that the colour will change." She giggles.

"I just wish it would, I hate using fucking hair dye."

"Maybe if I changed my hair you would start feline better about your colour?" she asks sweetly.

"Nep, you don't have to do that for me I'm just some next ass-hole. In fact, past and future me are ass-holes as well." You huff, pulling your fingers from your hair to adjust Nepeta's feet but she sits up more and leans closer to you.

"Karkat Vantas," She points a finger at you, "You are not by any definition, anywhere, an ass-hole; trust me I know who's an ass-hole and who's not. You are one of the nicest people I have ever met; even if you are a little grumpy!" She giggles at the last bit. You want to protest and explain why you _know_ you're such an ass, but Nepeta would just dismiss it all. That and you didn't want to fight with her over something so fucking stupid. You decide to change the subject to what she said in the hospital yesterday.

"So… Belly dancing?" you ask and her face glows with a bright rosy colour.

"Y-yes; I know it's a little bit of a strange hobby."

"Not at all; is that why you have so many Shakira songs on your I-pod and phone?"

"Well, I don't _only_ dance to Shakira, but yes. Would you like to see a dance of mine?" She asks.

Now it's your turn to have rosy cheeks. You subconsciously hide your face into the neck of your sweater as you mutter a quiet sure. When Nepeta starts to get off the couch you begin to panic- no way are you going to let her dance in this condition, no fucking way.

"Nep, you are not fucking dancing in your current condition." You say pointedly but she just quirks her head at you seemingly confused by your words.

"I'm not going to, I can't even stand properly. Now, are you going to carry me upstairs or are you going to try and push me up the stairs while I'm in my wheelchair again?" She snickers. That was an embarrassing moment for you; you thought it was a stupendous idea to _push_ the wheelchair up the stairs. The latter only ended up with Nepeta falling forward on the stairs and you to go tumbling down them with the wheelchair. It had worked for about six steps but sufficed to say, you learned your lesson.

You pick up Nepeta and carry her as she directs you to her room. You place her in the large spiny-chair at her desk- and yes it is totally called a spiny-chair- before handing Nepeta her laptop per request.

"Okay what's your e-mail, Karkitty?"

"What, why do you need that?"

"Well you're not watching my dance video while I'm in the room! That would be furry embarrassing for me!" She exclaims; throwing her good arm in the air for emphasis. Though, you had to agree with her; this would be an embarrassing endeavor for the both of you- probably more you though. You begrudgingly tell her your e-mail. After this she tells you she's going to continue on a watercolour painting for Gamzee so you leave her and head to your room.

When you get there the first thing you do is open your e-mail and watch the video of Nepeta's belly dancing. She had stated it was recent- from a day when Eridan wasn't home while they were dating; she had said it was one of the better weeks and that she only had a few bruises. When you opened it began with Nepeta standing there in her belly dancing clothes. This consisted of a sparkly golden bra that matched a gypsy type skirt that jingled when she moved. And then she started dancing.

Oh. Oh yes. Yes this was giving you thoughts you definitely shouldn't be having about your roommate. Definitely glad you didn't watch it with Nepeta in the room. Her hips moved with great precision and grace to the beat of a random drum song; she hit every note on point. You had to give it to her, the girl had moves. You face flushed red as a warm feeling pooled into your abdomen and when you looked down, yep that's done it, you had a hard on- fucking great.

You were about to solve the problem until Nepeta had called you over to her room. Then the panic set in. You immediately pulled on the tightest and most constricting pants you could find; that helped a little but your friend was still blatantly noticeable, so you pulled on the longest and baggiest sweater you owned- that almost covered the issue, but it was better than nothing.

When you decided your member was at least a little less noticeable you walk into Nepeta's room and she looks up at you before bursting out in constrained laughter as her face went bright red.

"What!?" You snap at her and when she finally calms down she clears her throat and begins.

"Sorry, uh, it's nothing I just wanted to tell you something." She says shyly. You know why she laughed, she probably saw your issue and decided not to make you more embarrassed by pointing it out. However you feel your heart clench none the less at her behavior.

"Uh, okay." You say as you sit in front of her on the cleared area of the desk you commonly sat on.

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me live with you even though you didn't have to, also for helping with… well you know who. Also I wanted to thank you for taking me to the ball and coming to look for me when I got in the bike accident and for taking care of me. I owe you a lot Karkitty, I have no idea how I'll ever make it up to you." She sighs and looks down at her lap.

"Nepeta look at me." You say, but she doesn't move so you lift her face by the chin.

"You don't have to make anything up to me. Hell you make me dinner enough; I call your debt repaid for three thousand years just because you of that. You don't owe me a fucking thing." You say. After another moment you remove her hand from her face but instead of looking back down like you thought she would her eyes stay locked with yours, mouth slightly agape.

"H-hey Karkat." She suddenly voices.

"Yeah?"

"At the ball you said you were glad I moved in with you, but it felt like you had more to say? I don't know, maybe it was just my imagination." She giggles shyly.

You visibly stiffen and then relax. Did you really want to tell her? What if she said she didn't like you back? For a moment you are think about telling her that it was all her imagination but for some reason you don't think she'd buy it; even _if_ she did bring up the notion herself. It was at this particular moment that you noticed the proximity between the two of you. Your noses almost touching. Your breath hitches as the two of you just keep getting closer and closer and then…

Buzz kill. Nepeta's phone blares her kitty ring tone loudly from her pocket. You mentally curse yourself for getting so close to kissing her. Would she even like you kissing her? You mean, she just broke up with Eridan like 3 weeks ago? Maybe sooner than that.

Nepeta backs up and a bright scarlet colour covers her face as she answers her phone.

"Hey Equius!" She greets cheerfully as always when he calls.

"I'm doing better, Karkitty's been taking good care of me I purromis!... U-huh… What?... Wait you saw who?... Where was this again?... But he doesn't have a hunting licence so I don't see why-… Meet me at the range." Nepeta finishes, slamming the phone on the counter with a panicked look on her face.

"Nep, what happened?" You ask but she dismisses you quickly.

"No time for that take me to the hunting range." She says strictly.

"But Nepeta I-"

"NOW!" She snaps.

"Nepeta I don't fucking understand why you want to go, Equius just called what is so fucking urgent that-" And then you are cut off by a very strong tug on your collar and something soft on your lips. Nepeta had pulled your face down and kissed you furiously. When she pulled away you began to mouth words but nothing came out.

"Now that I've finally made you be quiet; take me to the hunting range now, Equius will explain when we get there." She huffs.

You nod, not wanting to argue- or not trusting your voice to sound right if you spoke- and picked her up, bringing her out to the car and putting her in.

_**((A/N Special thanks to shawnathanscr12 on Tumblr for the great idea being put into motion! 3)) **_


	15. Chapter 15

**=== Be the one in the car**

You are now in the car with Karkat driving. The ride was silent aside from the dull sounds of the news announcer over the radio- though Karkat had eventually turned it off when the signal became static. After that brief moment in time you began to think about what you had done back at home. You aren't even quite sure why you kissed him; primarily you had thought that it was just to stop Karkat and his rambling before he started using his silly metaphors again, but the other part well…

You had actually quite enjoyed kissing Karkat, he hadn't kissed back of course because it was all so sudden, but his lips were just so… soft and ugh, you just wanted to kiss him again. You didn't even wanna start thinking about what you had most likely interrupted Karkat from doing earlier, you had just decided not to embarrass him by commenting on it.

Luckily before you can dwell on the thought longer than would be ideal, Karkat pulls into the parking lot of the hunting range before getting out your portable wheelchair. After he finished putting you into the chair you thank him and begin to wheel yourself- having refused to let Karkat push you- towards the building. The hunters knew that you had gotten into a car wreck, but that was about it; the only person at the range that knew everything about what had happened was Equius, but that was because you always told him everything anyways.

As you pass by some of the patrons give you brief nods that you return curtly before wheeling over to Equius who was standing outside waiting for you at the table by the door. You wheel up next to him while Karkat opts to sit across from Equius; you briefly wonder what he's thinking about.

"So, Equius, purrlease explain in more clawrity what you saw earlier. And would you purrlease tell the whole story?" You say to Equius.

"Yeah I'd love to know what the fuck is going on." Karkat voices and you kick him with your good-ish leg, shutting him up immediately.

"I will forgive your lewd language for now in light of current events. Earlier today I had gone to my local rifle supplier to pick up and order I had put in last month. When I arrived I saw the Ampora boy purchasing a Glock seventeen along with some nine by nineteen parabellum bullets. He was being rather secretive about his purchase so I assumed the gun, illegally purchased I might add, had something to do with the two of you." Equius finishes eloquently. By this point in time, due to Equius speaking so loudly, several burly men who had been coming to the range before you had, had gathered around your table.

"What would Ampora what with our huntress?" one man voiced, you knew him, his name was Robbie. Equius looks at you wondering if it's okay for him to say, you shake your head and turned to face the group of hunters.

"You all remember my boyfriend Eridan Ampora?" You ask and all the men nod.

"Well here's the story! First let me start by saying I broke up with him. Secondly we dated for four years and we have had… issues for those years. Every scar and bruise you ever saw me have was not a cause of many bar fights, slips at the café, or accidents in the woods." You take a deep breath. "Eridan cause those. The reason he was buying a gun, we're assuming anyways, is to kill me and possibly Karkat. Also the reason I'm in this silly chair is because he hit me with his car!" You didn't notice but you had started yelling. The only give away for that was the terrified looks on all the men's faces- Karkat and Equius included. You never yelled in front of anyone, and if you did it was always in a joking manner, so for the men here, it was utterly horrific.

"Well, do the police know?" A random voice asks.

"Yes they're supposed to have a team looking for him." You respond.

"Not good enough, he comes by here and we'll all take him down ourselves." Robbie states and you smile up at him.

"I know you guys will! I love all of you guys, you're like a second family to me!" You chuckle and turn back to Equius. "Did you tell the police Equius?" You ask politely.

"Yes I have informed the police and they have an extra unit out looking for him at the present time." Equius responds.

"Well clearly they aren't looking in the right place." The man next to Robbie states and you turn to him.

"What makes you say that?"

"He just pulled up in his car." The man replies, now everyone at the range has Eridans attention.

Eridan, failing to notice all the men glaring daggers at him, is jumped on either side by Frederic and Chris, the first friends you ever made at the range. The two large men each grab one of Eridan's arms and Chris gives him a swift punch to the gut. This is the moment when you see Karkat stand up from the table and walk over where Eridan is currently being held.

"If you'll fucking excuse me I have a score to settle with this asshole." He states and Both men stop throwing punches to focus on holding Eridans hands back.

"You really think I'm afraid of you?" Eridan sputters menacingly.

"No, but you should be." Karkat quips. Then out of nowhere Karkat gives Eridan a strong left hook to the eye. Then he hit with a right hook, then another left, and then continued the pattern until Eridan's knees gave way and he slumped in the two men's arms.

"How do you like being beat up you motherfucking cunt?" Karkat asks angrily but Eridan doesn't respond. Karkat walks away after telling the men to keep a hold on him while he passes Robbie and tells him to call the cops before placing a hand on your shoulder. You hadn't noticed it, but you were shaking violently. Karkat tells you that everything's going to be okay and that Eridan would be gone forever soon.

"You and Nepeta are free to leave, I'm sure Nepeta need's her rest." Equius says. You silently thank him and let Karkat wheel you to the car without protest. When you get home Karkat carries you and puts you down of the couch, sitting with your feet on his lap.

"Thank you Karkat." You say quietly, speaking for the first time since the incident at the hunting range.

"Pft, you don't need to fucking thank me Nep, the asshole had it coming." He says, crossing his arms and jutting out his bottom lip. After more than a moment of awkward silence you scoot over to sit shoulder to shoulder to Karkat.

"Nepeta, you need rest." He says but you shake your head.

"Tell me." You say, referring to earlier when your conversation with Karkat had been cut short by Equius' call.

"Tell you what?"

"What you were going to tell me before Equius' call cut you off silly!" You say, playfully punching his shoulder as you watch his face turn bright red.

"Well, I… I wanted to say that… well I-"

"Karkat I don't have all day! Well I do but that's not the point." You say with a smile on your face.

"Ipityyou." He says quickly, so quickly you don't catch what he said. "I mean, no I don't pity you; that would be fucking stupid." He says, putting a hand to his forehead and letting it slide down his face in frustration.

"You pity me? Or not pity me, rather?" You ask, extremely confused by what he was saying.

"No I, fuck I pity you, but it's not like, I feel bad for you, but I still empathize with you?" He sighs. "I just keep shoving my foot farther and farther down my throat." Karkat groans, placing his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees.

"Oh yeah, I'm just surpurrized you can still breath with it that far down!" You joke.

Karkat takes in some air and looks at you with the most determined face he can muster and places his hands on your shoulders.

"Nepeta, you can hunt with your bear hands, beat up someone twice your size, dance and draw like no bodies business, cook like a chef at a five star restaurant, do parkour and free-running perfectly, and this is making me feel incredibly cliché." You giggle at the latter statement.

"Thank you Karkitty, but what's your actual point?" You ask, smiling up at him.

"Well, you can do all these really fucking cool things! Also I like how you watch rom-coms with me without any fucking judgement, unlike fucking Sollux."

"Again, Karkat, the point."

"Ah, right, fuck." He sighs. "Nepeta, I really wanted to tell you… ACK FUCK! Why is this so fucking hard to do?! I can't even say three words to tell you how I feel without fucking up and getting nervous and fidgety like someone who's hiding from a serial killer. I mean, this is baby level shit! You just make me so nervous Nep don't you get it? I can't even tell you how much I like you without going off on a tangent about how much of a monumental fuck-up I am! How am I supposed-" You cut Karkat off with a short giggle and place your good hand on his cheek.

"You're rambling Karkat; do you know what I do to people who ramble exactly like you do?" You ask deviously.

"N-no."

"I shut them up." You say simply, pulling his face in to kiss him like you had earlier. This time you did it slowly so that Karkat would get the message, luckily he did and closed the distance before you could.

**((A/N I know its short but I just felt like there was a really nice place to end this chapter! There will be more, oh boy oh boy, will there ever be more! Thank you all for your continued support on this story, love you all!  
~ Kech)) **


	16. Chapter 16

**(TW for panic attacks and anything else like abandonment)**

=== Be the one comforting Nepeta

Currently you are Karkat and Nepeta was freaking out so much in your car that you had to pull over to the side of the road and comfort her. It had been a month since the incident with Eridan, and it had been a month since you had kissed Nepeta for the first time and gotten together. Nepeta has since been out of her wheelchair but the doctor said to be careful of her ribs, as she had broken two and the x-rays showed them to being close to finished healing- you obviously heeded his words.

Nepeta was currently freaking out because the two of you were on your way to meet with Nepeta's lawyer – her friend Terezi's mother, whom had never lost a case in her life. This was not, however, what Nepeta was having a panic attack over. Her reasoning, and you don't blame her for it, was that Eridan had to be present during the meeting with his attorney.

You bother were about five minutes away from the lawyers' office where Eridan and Redglare- Nepeta's lawyer- would be waiting for you. You had offered for her to stay home while you went and told them the whole story and what charges you would be pressing, but she had refused, stating that she had to be there and it was her job to be present. Gamzee, one finding out everything that Eridan had done to his 'little cat-sis', had paid for the lawyer and you and her had his family's support and witness on this case.

Speaking of Gamzee he should be at the meeting too. You had offered to pick him up, but you knew how that would go even if he did say yes. Eventually Nepeta said that you could start driving again, and while she was still shaking ever so slightly, you complied. No more than five minutes later the two of you walked into Neophyte Redglare's office with you immediately glaring daggers in Eridan's direction; he's such a fucking ass-hole.

You and Nepeta take a seat on either side of Gamzee with Nepeta to the left of Neophyte and the right of Gamzee. Eridans lawyer was his father, typical you think- for his level of douche anyways. His name was Dualscar Ampora, father of Cronus, whom you had to admit, though he was also a douche like his little brother Eridan, was not as bad. He was Kankri's friend so you knew him- more than you wanted to anyways- he was annoying, you thought. As a matter of fact, you think that the Ampora family is essentially made of dicks and assholes. Even The Serket's, who were related by marriage, were bitches.

You personally were not listening to anything anyone but Nepeta had said. You wanted to make sure she was okay. She had been fucking beaten and raped for Christ's sake. If it were medieval times you were sure Eri-douche would be cut in half. Not to mention he had bought a gun- illegally you might add- and tried to run over Nepeta while she was driving on her bike. You'll be damned if he was getting off free.

"So, Nepeta, would you please explain to Mr. Ampora what Eridan had done to you and what charges you will be pressing." Neophyte stated casually. Nepeta however, she just sat there like a deer in the headlights. She had totally forgotten the charges the two of you talked about this morning, you could easily tell. You chose to answer for her.

"Well, assault, abuse, illegal possession of a weapon, attempted murder, hit and run, suspected drunk driving, rape, and public drunkenness." It took a lot for you to say things like that without getting angry or cursing- especially in Eridan's presence. You knew you couldn't though since Eridan's father would definitely use it against you and Nepeta in court.

"Neophyte, does your client acknowledge and second these charges?" Dualscar asked, somewhat angrily- probably mad at Eridan for giving him such a hard case, not to mention what he had been accused of.

"I don't know, why don't you ask her yourself?" Redglare sneered back at him, he gulped heavily. She was funny, you thought.

"Ms Leijon, do you reciprocate these charges?"

"HELL FUCKIN' NO SHE DON'T!" Eridan suddenly boomed, startling the already frightened girl beside you. It startled her so much that Nepeta literally fell out of her chair- not a thing she is prone to doing. After a moment of silence Nepeta screamed, the kind of scream that could terrify someone who no one could scare.

Nepeta lied on the floor screaming and shaking and panting- it looked like she would be having a seizure if it weren't for the screaming and begging she was doing. You were utterly terrified. You knew she was having a fully blown panic attack but you had never seen anyone have one before. You were terrified because you couldn't do anything. Just under the loud, raspy voice of Neophyte telling everyone to stand back and telling Dualscar to restrain his son, you could hear Nepeta. She was saying things like "oh god not again" and "Please don't rape me, please not the belt, please anything but the bottle, I'll do anything if you stop" along with soft whimpers and choked back tears.

You decide to get next to her, even though this makes her wailing increase while Neophyte tries to call you back to the other side of the room. You ignore all of this and kneel next to Nepeta, a girl who was the strongest person you had ever met and was experiencing her weakest moment's right before your eyes.

You kneeled down slowly and sat next to her, not touching her, just sitting there. You whisper things to her to tell her it's alright, that Eridan won't hurt her anymore. It was about ten full fucking minutes until you had managed to calm Nepeta down. After that, Neophyte had escorted her out of the room to both speak with her privately and get her away from Eridan.

"I think that should answer your question Mr. Ampora. Are me and Nepeta free to go?" You ask smugly to the dishevelled man sitting in the chair near the end of the conference table. Dualscar sighs and nods so you turn and leave to room to see if Nepeta is doing okay. As soon as the door closes behind you can hear Eridan begin to verbally fight- and lose that fight- with his father; this made you laugh. Even the little shit stains father hated his guts, and boy, did he ever have a good reason to hate him. There was no way that Eridan would just walk away from this, especially after Nepeta's panic attack.

After Neophyte was done speaking with, and sedating, Nepeta, the two of you went home. You kind-of pitied Nepeta right now, to be honest. It was sad really, tomorrow was Christmas Eve and here the two of you were, going to meetings and filling out charges against her insane ex-boyfriend. Speaking of which, you had luckily found a present for her just yesterday. You secretly hope she likes it even though you know she will.

It was nothing flashy, but it did catch your eye. It was a necklace. The pendent was the Cancer and Leo symbols were intertwined with one another in silver on top of a round, black background. As for the chain, it was simple; it was a thin silver chain that would hang just below Nepeta's collarbone. The box it was held in was black with a dark green interior made from silk. If you were being honest, it was less expensive than it really looked. It was a hundred dollar necklace, but it was on sale for fifty dollars due to it being so close to Christmas.

You had also gotten a new job courtesy of you friend Gamzee. You had the same hours, better pay, and it was closer to where you lived. Apparently, Kurloz and Meulin had decided to start a new business, a pet shop a block away called Kurlin. You hated the name, hell you thought it was downright fucking stupid, but you had found something else for Nepeta there.

The first day on the job you had taken Nepeta to the store to look around and she saw a cat there. It was snow white except for a black, w-shaped line under her mouth, making it look like she had two mouths instead of one. Nepeta was absolutely taken with the cat, stating it looked just like her stuffed animal, Ponce-de-Leon. You decided to get the cat for her, besides it would be nice for Luca to have a friend to play with other than just the scratching post he had. And thanks to Gamzee, the cat was free; now you had money to buy a cat bed, food dishes, and more food for the new cat coming into your home.

You briefly wonder what Nepeta might have gotten you; you hope it was nothing too expensive. This however, is the only thought you can muster before Nepeta cuts you short. By this point you are both sitting in the living room with Luca curled up in Nepeta's lap.

"Thank you. For today I mean. I'm sorry I had to put you through that." She frowns.

"No don't apologize, you couldn't help it. If anyone should apologize it's the insane jackass who started this fucking mess. Also, you're welcome. It really wasn't that big of a deal; you do it in your sleep so I'm used to it by now." You state.

"Yeah, thank you for that too. Do you think that… well, I mean… do you know if he will be sentenced?" Nepeta stumbles.

"He will if I have anything to do with it! Besides you said Neophyte was the best fucking Lawyer in all of Skaia, right?" You ask.

"Yeah, Terezi, her daughter and my friend, wants to be just like her! Her sister Latula wants to make video games or be a pro skateboarder, I think." She smiles.

"Well, then we have nothing to worry about. Plus she's fucking hilarious so there's that."

"Yeah she's funny." Nepeta sniffles and giggles a bit.

"Oh I have a question." You say.

"Okay?"

"Why do you have a huge fucking box of fur in your room?" You ask.

"OH! Those are pelts from my hunting. I like to put them on sometimes, for fun of course, plus they're really warm." She beams.

"Uh, okay." You say. "Hey, Nepeta."

"Yeah?"

"Tell me something?" You ask.

"Well what do you want to know?"

"Two things: one, something no one else knows about you; and two, why do you even fucking like me?" The second part sounded harsh, you'll admit that. But you were really wondering. You were one of the biggest shit heads you knew, it was hard to imagine someone as amazing as Nepeta- or anyone really- liking you so much. You grew up hiding and you were really insecure because you were so different from everyone else, being albino and all. You were scared to cry, blush, smile, laugh, forget your contacts one day; it was so bad you just ended up being an asshole to almost anyone. The only people who saw past your asshole-ness were Sollux, John, and Gamzee. Even though they did get mad at you it would always pass. And despite all the time you spend watching rom-coms and reading romance novels, you knew jack shit about relationships- in fact Nepeta is your first real girlfriend and your first real kiss that wasn't a dare for someone else to do.

It wasn't that girls, and a few guys, weren't interested in you, you had plenty of options throughout your school years but never acted on them. You're sure you would have but the only time you did act it was on a guy named Dave, it quickly ended when you found out he was the most insufferable prick you had ever met in your goddamned like- even more than Kankri, and that's saying something.

Nepeta hummed over the questions for a while before saying, "My parents aren't dead. Well as far as I know anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they abandoned me and Meulin when I was six or seven, so I do remember them. They didn't really pay attention to me or Meu, so having them gone didn't make a difference. When Meulin turned eighteen my parents stopped taking care of me, I was five then and Meu took over for them. So when they left a year or two later Meulin was already like a mother to me, in a sense." She sighed. It looked like it didn't bother her, being abandoned and all, but you could tell she wishes they hadn't left, like her life would be better if they didn't go.

"We moved here when I was in high school, we went to high school together if I recall correctly. Originally I lived in Canada, Lytton, in British Columbia to be exact. It's a very small town, only about three hundred people live there. The nearest town has about seventeen hundred people there. I knew everybody, and everybody knew me. Terezi lived in Lytton with me until the ninth grade when she moved to San Francisco with her sister and mother. We came here because Equius and Horrus live here and they are our only immediate family that we know of, they don't know what happened to my parents either, no one does.

"As for why I like you? Well it's simple. I could go on and on talking about really corny reasons like 'oh you're so smart and funny and cute' et cetera, et cetera, but that's always seemed a little stupid to me. Karkat, ever since I met you, in what, high school? I've liked you. You were the first person I ever knew the name of at Alternia- Gamzee had told me your name before telling me his." Nepeta laughed at that. "Yeah, you're a crabby, grumpy guy. Frankly I find it endearing, some people might not, but I know you still care about your friends, no matter how much you say you hate them. I admire that about you Karkat. You try to care about everybody, and I can see you trying so hard to please everyone. It's almost like you can't breathe on your own without making sure everyone is breathing themselves. But you're not flamboyant about it either.

My point is that, no matter how grumpy you are or how much you say you hate everyone and everything, you don't. And that's why I "fucking like you". Hell, I think that's an understatement! I fucking love you." She paused for a minute. "You don't have to say you love me too though. I know positive emotions like that aren't exactly part of everyday life for you but," You cut her off.

"I know it's not, but I fucking love you too, Nepeta." You say before chastely kissing her lips. It wasn't a long kiss or anything, it wasn't hard or deep, but it was enough to show her how much you really did love her.

_**(A/N: Sorry this took so fucking long, I hate such bad writers block for like what, three weeks? Plus I was in the states and in summer school, bluh bluh. Apologies, I made this chapter slightly longer and a little more mushy and fluffy for you guys near the end, also i didn't proof read this so sorry for any errors!)**_


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